Heart Rate Variability Tracking

I came across Heart Rate Variability around five years ago and found it a useful tool at the time.  Like many of these sorts of things it fell to the wayside during Covid, but now that I am over 40 years old and my recovery from exercise (and hangovers) is a tad (lot!) slower, I thought I'd revisit it. 

If like me you enjoy HIIT (high intensity interval training) style workouts, and don't feel you've trained properly unless you've given your max each time, then this could be a useful tool to temper these possibly overzealous tendencies, and maybe train a bit 'smarter'.  I feel I am good at listening to my body, but a little added data could be the nudge I need to rein myself in occasionally, or to motivate me to exercise more appropriately to my recovery status. 

What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)? 

• A measurement of the changes in the gaps between heartbeats (different to the number of beats per minute). 

Why should I track it? 

• The variability between our heart beats is a useful measure of the activity of our autonomic nervous system in response to stress.  Are we in a state of rest and digest, or more leaning towards fight or flight? We can use this information to adjust our training intensity/type to fit our current status. Are we suited to another HIIT session, or would a relaxing swim be more beneficial?   

What will it tell me?

• Contrary to my initial assumption, when we are leaning towards a more parasympathetic state (rest & digest) our heart rate variability is actually higher, i.e. the gaps between beats are not uniform. When we are in a more sympathetic state (fight or flight) our HRV is more regulated and thus gaps between beats are more uniform. This tells us we may not have fully recovered, or generally there is more stress in our lives (this could be driven by alcohol, poor sleep, work, or vigorous exercise, for example).

How do I track HRV?

• Via an app which uses your phone's camera - You hold a finger over the camera for one minute, ideally first thing in the morning, while the app takes the reading.

Conclusion 

This appears to be a useful and easy tool to help people quantify their recovery status, giving an insight to help better balance training and lifestyle, and identify potential stressors that may throw us off our routines.  Listening to our body is obviously important to avoiding injury during vigorous exercise and this tool adds some data to the decision process.  Sometimes we need a little help to take our own advice!   

App I use (others are available): https://www.hrv4training.com/