So let's start with, what is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)?
It's a measure of the changes in the time gap between heart beats. It may seem surprising but our hearts don't beat completely rhythmically like a drum all the time, there is a small change in the time between each and every heart beat. It turns out that the natural variation between beats is completely normal and, in fact, a higher amount of variability can be a sign of good health!
Firsly it's important to say that there are a lot of factors that impact HRV, so it's not that useful to compare your values with the values of others. Things like age, genetics, pregnancy, where you are in your menstrual cycle and many, many other factors impact what's normal for you. Generally though a higher number is better. It's also important to know that HRV wil naturally vary throughout the day depending on what you are doing, what you have eaten and drunk, how you've slept, all sorts of things; so look at the trends over time, don't get worried about an "in the moment" reading. Usually taking a reading first thing in the morning is a good time to measure it.
But some important factors impact HRV that mean it can be a useful figure to track for you and your overall health;
Dehydration; one of the biggest factors in lowering HRV is being dehydrated. This isn't great for your body for a whole host of different reasons, so if you notice your HRV dip drinking some water or other healthy hydrating drink will really help
Sleep; HVR drops when your body isn't recovered enough; from training, life or stressors. Since sleep is the best thing to do to help brain and body recover good sleep will improve your HRV score, because it improves your overall health and wellbeing!
Exercise; generally those who exercise regularly have higher HRV, because they are fitter and healthier. Your HRV may dip after a workout or run as your body shifts into recovery mode to adapt to that training. Over time HRV should improve (increase) with training. If you notice a downward trend it may be that you are training too much or not allowing your body enough recovery time.
Mental Health; stress and anxiety can absolutely impact your overall health and therefore your HRV. Meditation and mindfulness, gratitude practice and counselling have all been show to improve HRV as a result.
Breathing; linked to Mental Health focussing on the breathe and learning to breath more slowly and deeply improves HRV by lowering stress levels and help improve anxiety.
For all these reasons tracking your HRV can be a really good feedback mechanism on your overall Physical and Mental Health status!

Comments