Is HRV an important data metric to you? Share your experiences with us 👇

3 months ago my HRV was 34 (7 day average). I gave up alcohol and eating late, fixed up my sleep routine, started working out 3 times per week and walking 9k steps per day, cleaned up my diet and improved my hydration. Now my HRV is 33. RIP.

I am 49 years old, and my average HRV on my WHOOP is 72, with summer months last year showing an impressive 82. For the past nine years, I have dedicated myself to researching vagal tone and the health of my vagus nerve, and I'm currently chronicling my journey in a book. My life took a drastic turn after our second child, Joshua, died as a baby. This traumatic event severely impacted my mental health, which I later understood was connected to the health of my vagus nerve. The vagus nerve, with its ganglia extending around the body like the leaves, branches, and roots of a plant, withered under the stress and grief I experienced. Heather's video provided some excellent insights, and I admire the athleticism of this community. Although I am less athletic myself-having blown my MCL skiing in December, leaving me with dog-walking as my only activity for the first four months of 2024-my HRV remained high. This is due to the daily practices I have adopted, which have been crucial in maintaining my HRV levels. After Joshua's death, I suffered from multiple autoimmune diseases for four years. By focusing on improving my HRV, I managed to reverse them all. HRV truly is a game changer. On my channel, I share breathwork techniques and insights into my recovery, offering free and accessible resources for anyone interested. Remember, our health is our wealth. I wish you all continued growth and happiness in your health journey. I am not a runner but I do enjoy a couple of 5K runs during a typical week. Thankfully the MCL is recovered and I am back running the trails by my home in Ireland.

My HRV baseline is from 23-30. At 70nyrs of age I'm not sure how age plays into this. I don't drink, don't smoke and do not ea as healthy as I should, but I do try to be cognizant of hat I put into my body. I take no prescription meds either. I do know not taking enough recovery time lowers my HRV, however, taking too much recovery time also lowers my HRV. Finding that balance of recovery and exercise seems to be key for me.

*RHR* - _tells you how your week should be_ *HRV* - _tells you how your day should be_ *RHR* If lower than baseline, then it means you are fresh and ready to take on more training load. If higher than baseline, it means you overreached and should consider having a rest day. *HRV* If lower than baseline, it means your body is under stress and you'll get poor return on your training investment. So you should take it easier (e.g. low intensity exercise, walking, yoga). If higher than baseline, it means you are primed to take on a physical challenge (e.g. high intensity intervals).

Stress (physical or mental), alcohol, and sickness are what move my HRV up and down. But one advice, don't stress about HRV too much, literally. The more you worry about your HRV, the more stress you experience, and the more likely your HRV will go down. I use the weekly average as the overall indicator on my watch rather than daily measurements which have volatility and cannot always being explained as they depend on many factors in your life.

This is the best explanation of HRV I have heard. Thanks!

From the first second i knew this would be a commercial for Whoop

Finally!! This is the clearest explanation on HRV. Garmin needs to take note! Thank you

My HRV is never above 30 and usually about 10-20. I exercise and eat a healthy diet and am young.

One big take away for me was the ”eating late” parameter. I also feel that I have a rather low HRV compared to others (and yes, everything is a competation 😂). I will play around with that a bit to see what’s happening. I have taken away alcohol since start of this year. I see a much more stable HRV. Alcohol really has an very big impact on the HRV, even just two beer will mess it up. One thing that I see is never spoken about when it comes to HRV is what’s happening with the HRV value when you taper. Me and my locals have during the last year seen that for every taper that we do the HRV values weirdly is lowered significantly , often it gets out of the ”green” baseline span. We have searched the internet and there is some papers around stating that this is actually the case, that the HRV is lowered even though you rest and potentially sleep more during tapering. This is a topic that you can dive into at some point on the GCN Show.

Firstly, congratulations on your pregnancy Heather, I wish the very best for you. Moving on to HRV - I've been using a Whoop band over a year now, since I saw Ollie wearing one a while ago. My HRV is also "low" on average compared to a lot of people, but then I'm old.. I HAVE noticed an improvement as my fitness improves (thank you again, you are one of the people that inspires me).. and I've seen a clear correlation between when I'm sick, got poor sleep, went hard the day before, etc. so I find it a useful tool to help me optimize my training and understand my condition, know when I really need to ease up.

Mine is always between 10 and 18. Yup. I don’t drink and am very healthy. I exercise a lot / average 2/day, being a triathlete and have a lovely stress-relieving dog and have no underlying health conditions that I know of. Even with all these explanations I can’t lie-it does worry me especially when I hear it mentioned as a predictor of an early death. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I went to the Mayo Clinic one time for a physical routine and told them I was having issues with what felt like blood pressure was dropping while standing for long periods. They actually do a test called autonomic testing where they do all sorts of things but one of them is actually they lay you on your back and make you breathe into this tube three times with like 3 minute breaks, hard as you can. They state it Breathing HRV. They say they use this for a way to judge how well your autonomic nervous system is performing and you do this fasted and early in the morning with no caffeine or exercise the day prior. They also do the tilt table test, and measure sweat on your ankles which they stimulate the area and measure it. Some other wild stuff.

on whoop today 94.6 :) I feel fit to race on zwift today

Low HRV for me is a really strong indicator I won't be able to hit a training session. Even if I feel ok I won't have it. Recently it's been trending up on some consistent interval run training which is something to look forward to 😎

FINALLY a great explanation about HRV! ❤

I started at the values as heather 10months ago.. roughly 35ms...good days above 40, bad below 20ms. I tried to follow the recommendations(less eating before bed, dark room, blue light filters on screen) and it was slightly improving to the 50ms range. When I cut alcohol completely 8months ago it took roughly a month and since that my average is in the 75-85ms(its more than half a year now). Yesterday I had an overnight average of exactly 100. I am of similar age as Heather and the guys. Its socially very difficult, but I feel amazing. Also havent been sick even once since that. Had a cold regularly when combining training, family and work+party

I seems logical to correct HRV for HR (or in fact, the average interval between beats) in some way. If your resting HR is 40 bpm, the average interval between beats will be 1500 ms, and if your resting HR is 60 bpm, the average interval will be 1000 ms. I would argue that realistically a HRV of 50 ms is greater in the latter case, as it translates to 5% (50/1000), than in the former (50/1500 = 3,3 %). In the same vein, when one's heart rate increases to say 150 bpm (average interval 400 ms) during exercise, a HRV of 5% would translate to 20 ms. Seems small, but realistically identical to a HRV of 50 ms at 60 bpm. In other words, when measured in ms, HRV indeed decreases as HR increases, but realistically (after correction for average heart rate interval) it might not.

My average HRV is also in the 30s, so this is very comforting 😃

Threw him under the bus there with the clips 😂😂 pizza eating, beer swilling athlete 😅

Yeah, I always think I'm a fit and healthy man until I see other people's RHR and HRV then suddenly feel like I'm on deaths door 🚪

My HRV was 287ms last week, but that’s because I have atrial fibrillation (afib), so my times / pace / speed / power are the only meaningful metrics for me.

If my hrv is under 80 im sick or really stressed

I’m 64, and my HRV is around 50ms according to my Apple Watch. I wear mine most nights when I sleep as well as all day long, resting and working out.

On a 3 day fast my HRV jumps up from a 51ms 7 day average to 70 plus and even into the 80s on occasion. Seen this repeated over several cycles. Why would that be happening?

Thanks so much! I went through exactly the same thing, thinking I'm relatively fit and healthy and yet having an HRV around 30. Not sure exactly what changes to make - maybe sleep and coffee but we shall see

After a heavy drinking weekend I dipped to 20 lol

❤...if you have a very low RHR if under 45 you're HRV will be low it's a term called parasympathetic saturation Surprised the whoop expert didn't discuss this. You're body things your stressed because of the very low HR. Do this is why it's athletes often have very low HRV.. I have written an article on this of anyone wants it.. my RHR is 40 so low HRV but Vo2max 60.

Wow thanks a lot! Never seens a so clear explanation 😊

Man, such great information 👏 I im around 33ms, but I sleep 8 hours and have a good resting heart rate. I do need to exercise more.

I find a good sleep helps a lot with HRV, consistent bedtimes and decent length of sleep time help keep the reading steady. I have used HRV as a good indicator of general health such as getting over a cold or a few years ago it told me I had Covid.

According to Elite HRV the most reliable and accurate method is using a chest strap like the Polar H10 (most chest straps are not recommended) is the only accurate way to measure HRV. Also when it comes to HRV it’s not the same as measuring speed or watts so there is no such thing as mostly accurate HRV reading. If it’s not completely accurate then the reading is useless. Whoop is specifically one of the devices that Elite recommends NOT using. I have been using this metric for over a year training for Ironman and can attest that when used correctly it provides valuable data.

18. It’s been as low as 7 before. It was then that my WHOOP told me to go to the Drs. The highest it’s ever been is 37. I’m scared I’m going to die soon. Or have a stroke. Or whatever.

54 year old male here was overweight now within my bmi. Over the last 6 months mine has lowered dramatically. 60 down to 30 . what has changed is I have lost 45 pounds and started running at least 5km a day from not running at all.

Great description. I now know a lot more about HRV and how I can use it.

Nice timing. I was wondering about this just last night. Thanks!

late comment but - my baseline from Garmin after 5 year of steady watch wearing is around 65. the biggest thing that I should have paid attention to with this metric was after my May 70.3 Ironman my HRV dropped significantly (into the 40s) for 2 full weeks after. I should have taken this and used it instead of continuing heavy training load post-race, because I was forced to slow down training with minor health concerns 3 weeks after, as HRV crept back into my normal range.

I swear to God if I hear one more health guru preach about not eating before bed time without addressing the fact many of us can't sleep if we don't eat before bed.

It gets lower as you get older, it is a general measure of the state of your health, having a consistent rate is a much better measure of your health rather than what the actual rate is.

I am already monitoring my HRV since several years now and I noticed that it is most pof the time lower on the next morning if I did not train on that day. So training does in fact have a huge influence on my HRV, in a positive way.

Thanks for this video! I slightly panicked when I first saw how low my hrv was, but won't worry about comparing to rhe average 🤓

I find my HRV a very poor indicator of my potential performance. I use the morning HRV on my garmin. It basically tells me if i've had a good or bad night sleep but won't be a useful predictor of my performance that day. I find mood a slightly better indicator. Generally i have to take into account, hrv, mood, sleep, soreness and a few other things to gauge my fatigue and performance.

Thank You for such a concise explanation!

Wow. This is great. Very well done. I finally understand HRV much better. Way to keep it simple and straightforward even while exploring the topic thoroughly.

My heart beat has never been measured below 55

Booze and poor sleep have a really obvious negative effect on my HRV.

Heather was awesome. As always.. Massive congratulations 🎉 Heather.

[Monday 40, Tu 30, W 32, Th 24, F 30, Today 24] Looking forward to the Nadi Shodhana & Ujjayi Pranayama follow along workout videos. Hopefully we can see a normalization of Recovery Hygiene & Training Stimulus Assimilation coverage going forward. As Emily Fletcher shared in Stress Less Accomplish More (chapter 13): the Saffron in the Tibetan Monk’s Robes is achieved with a equal amount of time in die solution (time in tension) with time in the sun (time in recovery).

Important to note some confounders for HRV include being in a hot climate (summer vs winter), noise exposure, higher body weight/body fat, and from what I could find there's basically no published research validating the use of fitness trackers (wrist monitors) to measure HRV. So to answer - why is Heather's HRV so low? Probably because the resting heart rate and body temperature increases during preganancy and fluid retention especially at the wrist and hands during pregnancy can impact the measurement.

Great video!

Why would GTN or GCN presenters bother with Whoop when they all have Garmin watches that can do all this?

I was pregnant last year and my HRV was very low. I guess your body takes over the control for the baby. As soon as the birth was over it increased immediately. Strangely, my resting heart rate came down from 70 to almost 40, and normally I was around 50 before pregnancy.

Super interesting and great information here. .I'd like to delve more into how to raise this number. This morning my HRV was at 49, which according to my Garmin 965 is balanced.

Thank you for the great video, I have an HRV of around 90ms to 100ms over a 7d average when healthy and not too stressed, and after using the metric for some time I learned that when my HRV drops I am about to get sick or am very stressed, this way I am sort of able to predict sickness or stress and counteract it. Do you guys do that too?

When I over trained myself few weeks ago, my HRV dropped to about 48. I got really tired and maybe got an cold as well at that time. Now I am back with HRV around 80, which is above my normal range. Maybe it is because weather is getting warmer and training is back on track.

My daily HRVs are from 90-140. The most important factors are - 9 hours of sleep, 40 minutes of moderate exercise daily, clean diet (based on Blue Zones).

My base is 48-66, BUT in the last 11 days, I was down to 42-46 as I was having my asthma attack RHR was 80(highest I ever had). today, finally back to 56 HRV and RHR 52. Also, my training readiness was STRAINED. based on my experience and people I know who uses Garmin watches, also runners when our HRV drops significantly, then most certainly we get sick or already sick. Tomorrow after such a long break 12days total I'll be able to run again...I waited for my HRV to go back to normal so I don’t trigger my asthma again, Hopefully 😅

Best Hrv info ever. Thx

I’m definitely in the low hrv group at least as measured by my Apple watch over the last few years. But I cut out alcohol Feb ‘23 with hrv in the mid-to-high teens (yikes!) and it doubled within a month of no alcohol plus daily exercise. I seem to have plateaued now though as it’s usually between 40-50. So an improvement for sure.

Those orange fingernails - I couldn't help but wonder whether you'd watched Si's recent video about hi-vis wear . hehe

My HRV range according to Garmin is 90-100. I notice it's below 90 on days when I've done a really intense workout (or race) or a lot of stress at work. I also notice that it generally stays steady or slightly lowers during the race season and then increases once I start my base phase after my off season.

Mine is 13 to 20 and not even a doctor will discuss it cardio check up was good

Really interesting topic and video. I monitored my HRV via smart watch for the past few years. Mine was on average around 20 ms lower (in the mid 30 ms) from 4 weeks pregnant till I gave birth. Returned to not far off pre pregnancy baseline the month after I gave birth. Would consider myself pretty fit and active, train 4-5 x pw mix of run, cycle and S&C.

I've used Whoop for 4 years, currently on a streak of over 1,300 days continuous use. HRV is incredibly personal, and even in this 'advert' Whoop say don't worry about it "but higher is better" which fuels the belief. But Whoop is not perfect. It's ability to read HRV is distorted by which arm you wear it on (Whoop say that doesn't matter, but HR and BP is clinically measured on your left arm), how snug the strap is, and the position on your wrist. It measures HRV at night, so how you sleep and the position of your arm also affects it. There are too many variables due to the type of device to have diagnostic accuracy. After 1,300 data points I've come to the conclusion that HRV is so highly variable that for most people it's not worth monitoring it.

I can see a comedian having a field day with this one. You know I gonna use a sick day b/c my HRV is acting up

I track my HRV using my Garmin watch. I find the results consistent and they definitely correlate with my fatigue levels, quality of sleep, illness etc. When I'm well rested and healthy HRV is usually in the 60s. If i do a hard run season (particularly if it's an evening session) HRV will drop to mid 40s. Was ill recently and it went down to c.30. Interestingly I've not drunk alcohol for 3 months and my HRV is way more consistent. Looking back at the historical data and my diary, big nights out would see HRV dip into the 20s!

Great I’ve seen mine increase with a better training/diet/sleep regime. And it’s a good indicator of a minor health blip it falls. So I lay off the exercise on those days. Overall, a great metric to understand and very well explained in the video.

This is the metric that helps me say NO to those tequila shots at the end.

My HRV and my resting BPM are notably affected by my calorie surplus/deficit. For example, in December, I was at a calorie surplus for most of the month. Per my Apple Watch, my HRV averaged 61, my RHR averaged 47. In January, I was at a calorie deficit for the full month. My HRV averaged 70, my RHR averaged 42. I’ve been maintaining in March, averaging 66 for my HRV and 44 for my RHR.

I have been monitoring my data from my Garmin watch, chest strap HRM, and power pedals, quite closely for the past year. Initially I was focussing a lot on measurements like "training readiness" and "recovery time" to see how much, and how far, I could push my training without going too far. It has sort of worked for me but not perfectly and the last roughly 3-4 months I have been looking mostly at my HRV from day to day, which seems to be the data that is best in tune with how my body actually feels, and is not just a number. If my HRV drops over a day or two I know that I am either overdoing my training, or not recovering as well as I should, which is very often directly related to poor sleep. In the twelve months I have improved my HRV though with my average HRV going up by about 5 in the same period.

My nightly average HRV via Garmin does not correlate with morning HRV most of the time. I think the lack of correlation is because I am still digesting dinner for the first few hours of sleep; HRV is quite low, as shown by Gramin's graph. By morning, my HRV has jumped up considerably. I find that resting HR, morning HRV, muscle soreness, and energy level/motivation are the best indicators of training readiness. Low energy means no training or something really easy and short, like a walk or hike. Higher resting HR means the same; it's time to chill out. If I did a hard workout the day before where training effect is a 5.0 via Garmin, I know that a rest day or really is easy day is next. For those training for Ironmans, am I the only person that finds Garmin suggested workouts way off most of the time? I'm just curious.

Great! I use a garmin watch. Ive bounced between 40 and 60 hrv depending on travel and diet. Great video, very informative, thank you.

Triathletes/athletes… have a much higher push on their sympathetic nervous system … I think this is why many of us have lower HRV’s… we train hard and it not always is great for our bodies… us training more will I do not reckon improve our scores… it only adds more stress… of course this is for those of us that train like 10+ plus weeks. We need to really find that time to recover and breathe and stop… 😅 Hormonal changes also have a massive impact. For many m of my female clients their HRV reduces considerably in their luteal phase.

HRV: between 45 and 57 average during the night. Lower HRV correlates with higher fatigue, a good indication that I need a rest day.

I used to experience a-Fib. I treated it with an ablation so I seldom experience it anymore. When my HRV rises it is a bad sign not a good one.

My RMSSD was around 60 last year, then I got covid in November, and my HRV tanked down to 10-20. I've recovered partly up to 37, but it's still too low. Resting heart rate is also 10 bits too high.

After having Afib and operations to sort it. My HRV went from high 50's down to an average of 15ms now. And the issue i have now is my Garmin tells me have have poor sleep due to the fact Garmin thinks my HRV is poor for someone my age!! It just cant give me a baseline

Thank you for explaining this ❤

What fun! Watch Heather Fell be non competitive.

congratulations on your pregnancy Heather,

How is Emily qualified? MD?

After monitoring HRV for a year or so, I'm struck by how closely it tracks my overall physiological "wellness". It's an excellent early-warning signal for when I'm going too hard with workouts and am not sufficiently recovered. This is especially helpful as I'm no longer as young as I used to be(!) and I'm learning I need to devote more time to recovery.

I’m 59, my heart rate variability this morning was 16. Occasionally, my HRV jumps to 50 but that’s about it. Mostly it’s between 20 - 30 regardless of how I feel or how much I’ve been training. Very flat all the time.

I'd like to know how much things like stress and mental health affect HRV vs physical health.

How does the accuracy of the device affect the metrics, some devices measure your HRV when you are at rest but without much consistency, sometimes is measured in the morning after waking up sometimes late in the evening sometimes in the middle of the morning or the afternoon, are these measurements meaningful in the same way? Since there's a strong correlation between circadian rhythm and vagus nerve, and vagus nerve function is associated to HRV values, are the data from smartwatch/smartband reliable and are they repeatable enough to extrapolate level of recovery/stress/fitness?

not eating and drinking(alcohol tea coffee) close to bedtime (about 3 hours)❤ My hrv from 6x up to 8x

I follow my HRV every day, if it’s dropping for me below 100 then I know I’m either physically fatigued or I’m getting sick… For me it’s a very valuable metric to know how much effort I can put in a session. Useful video and does apply to other brands also, will never buy Whoop, my Garmin is fine for this 👍

I have a typically higher HRV, in the 80’s usually. But interestingly, when I checked just now it was showing as unbalanced on the too high for me side of 94. I often see a too low score which for me signals I may be about to come down with something. But I don’t usually see too high. I did eat my meal 3 hours later than normal yesterday and right before I went to bed so I was interested to hear that could impact the overnight score

I am a 76-year-old athlete. Two years ago when I was running really well, I had a mean HRV for the year of 80. After some injuries, my HRV was mostly in the 30s. Now it's back in the 50s and 60s and trending up. These are average overnight data measured with an Oura ring. Recently I have had record low minimum sleeping heart rate of 39.

104-130 baseline here on Garmin. Resting HR of 40 bpm pushes that up. I personally find HR does correlate with HRV.

comparing hrv is like comparing eye colours but still I deem it as important.

No info on how fatigue affects HRV. Is lower than normal HRV for a particular person an indication that you should be resting? Does your HRV naturally drop after a hard effort and slowly rise as a couple of days go by?

When I go to bed 100% sober it's between 80-100, 40-60 if I'm a little under the influence lol, 7 day average RHR is 42.

Yeah. MY HRV has never cleared 20. Typically 14 to 16. No idea what to do with that.

Ive been dieting my HRV went from 120 to the 40s-60s

The problem with wrist based is that it's not that accurate. Wearing a whoop in the boxers works much better for me.

My HRV Was 25 And I Suffer From High Blood Pressure

I am using Whoop as well as my Garmin Forerunner 965. Interestingly the HRV measured on the Whoop is always lower compared to what Garmin mearues. So, wonder, how both do the calculation.

My HRV is 15. i do exercise regularly and am ripped beyond belief