One feature offered by various fitness trackers is a metric called “heart rate variability” or HRV, which is the time interval between each heartbeat. But given that we often think that our hearts beat at a constant and predictable rate, the fact that the interval between each of them varying pace can be a difficult concept to understand.
However, since HRV is sensitive to stress—whether it be anxiety, sleep deprivation, overtraining or any other physical and mental stressor.Monitoring your HRV can be a way to measure whether your overall lifestyle needs a change. For example, many professional and endurance athletes will look after their HRV as a way to measure how your overall stress levels can affect your performance.
“HRV is a very good measure of the efficiency and performance of your cardiovascular system,” he said John P. Higgins, MD, sports cardiologist at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. “A high HRV means your heart works like a Ferrari, which can go from 0 to 60 in 2.7 seconds.”
Heart rate variability is controlled by our autonomic nervous system
Our VHR is controlled by our autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls our instinct to fight or flee, as well as our relaxation response. Depending on whatS is happening in our livesis, whether it’s a bad night’s sleep, a stressful situation at work or if there are exciting events, this will cause our brain to stimulate or relax different bodily functions, such as heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and digestion. This also includes heart rate variability, which will decrease when stress levels are high, or go up when your life has a healthy balance.
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There are many factors that affect your HRV, included how much do you sleepyou will get how nutritious your diet is, yesre exercise your body needs, yesexcessive re-training, i general stress levels. Low HRV has also been reported worsening of anxiety and depression i increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Heart rate variability may change as a result of lifestyle
The good news is that when it comes to your own HRV, these values can change depending on what ‘It’s happening in your life. As Higgins points out, our HRV usually varies in a stable range over a period of weeks to about a month, and can change in a positive direction in a fair way quickly. “Exercising is the best way to improve heart rate variability and can bear fruit in as little as two months,” Higgins said.
Watching your HRV can be a great way to assess whether you need to reduce your life stress level and if your stress reduction methods work. Given the enormous levels of stress we’ve all suffered over the last 18 months, reducing stress is probably an issue we’re all thinking about.
Knowing the variability of heart rate can help prevent overtraining
For people who are training for something like a marathon or triathlon, monitoring your HRV can also help you determine ifretraining. As Higgins explains, after a hard workout, your HRV will be lower. One sign that you have recovered from this workout is when your HRV has returned to normal, which tells you that your body is ready to exercise again.
This way, monitoring your HRV can help you understand what level of training is best for your body. “Elevated HRV is associated with improved body system performance,” Higgins said. If your body works well, it usually translates into improved athletic performance.