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Neuro Athletes,
You are probably tracking your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) which is a good sign but HRV is often misunderstood. On Tuesday I released an in-depth HRV podcast episode with one of the greatest researches in HRV training- Dr. Daniel Plews.
I gained so much from this episode as it relates to high-performance so I encourage you all to listen to the episode if you are interested in how to use your WHOOP or Oura ring in the right way and if you want a real basic understanding of what HRV is.
There are a number of apps available to measure HRV in athletes, but only a few have been independently validated for accuracy. Since HRV involves precise measurements on each heartbeat, the sensor used must also be validated as suitable for HRV.
BACKGROUND
HRV measures the specific changes in time (i.e., variability) between successive heartbeats. From there, HRV can be expressed in 2 domains: time or frequency.
In times of stress, your heart beat becomes very steady. When your nervous system is relaxed, your heart beats in irregular intervals resulting in more variability. As a general rule of thumb: Higher sleeping HRV, higher overall relaxation and recovery. And higher the HRV, higher one’s predicted psychological wellbeing.
The understanding of the significance of HRV is ongoing. However, it has been suggested that HRV is an important method for assessing cardiovascular autonomic parameters that are partially under the regulatory control of innervations from the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
Monitoring HRV as a marker of current stress thresholds is essential for human performance optimisation. If athletes can keep their HRV high, they will be able to cope with stress more positively. At times when it is lower, then the athlete can use this to modify activities like an athlete would to ensure optimisation. In the long-term their resilience and performance would improve.
There are days when we wake up feeling awesome and well rested, ready to have a productive day. Alternatively, on other days we wake up late, groggy and need 3 cups of coffee to kickstart our day. On days like this then it is likely that your HRV is much lower.
One good tool to use a simple HRV app to take a reading in the morning to guide you on your activities and exercise for that day.
TOP HRV APPS & WEARABLES
I hope you enjoy this weeks episode and learn as much as I did!
HRV: A Crash Course