HRV is a way for athletes measure response to training. Lower average HRV is indicating the athlete is under recovering. While high HRV indicates good recovery.
The basics of HRV is universal but the protocol used to measure it is different. HRV is measured in a number, but reported differently by companies. The major division is that Apple reports SDNN. Almost all others measuring at night are reporting RMSSD. Still others, to ' smooth ' the data report ln(RMSSD). All of these can be correct ways the report HRV but contributes to the confusion when comparing. There are 'norms' out there. It is easy to convert RMSSD to ln(RMSSD) on a calculator. Finally, Don't compare Apples to oranges.
This is a useful video. There is a learning curve though. Like knowing about ECG's and experimenting with routine, fitness, meditation, diet, motivation etc.
This is an ad video for Oura. Everyone keep in mind measuring instruments at the finger or wrist or forearm are highly unreliable. And I say that as someone who mostly uses a Suunto wrist watch. The best conclusive meta analysis show this very strongly ( compared 18 studies). Only way to get a close measurement without actual ecg is a high level chest strap. Dont be fooled everything else is just marketing. Lets hope he got 100 dollars every time he said Oura 😂
There are people who have worn high level chest straps and Oura rings at the same time and results are very similar. I personally have worn an Oura rings for months and wondered about the HRV accuracy. I bought a Polar 10 and paired it up with Elite HRV and the results are basically the same as the Oura ring.
I have a Garmin also. I have found that even when I sleep all night and feel rested, that isn't enough. Factors like amount of alcohol drank, medications, having irregular sleep hours, or staying up late, and working too hard have the biggest negative impact. Even if I get 8 hrs of sleep. I've learned a lot about recharging the body battery, and it's an eye opener.
i just got a garmin and it's only been a week and my numbers are super low, so of course I'm jumping to conclusions but I'll let it continue to baseline and then I'll try to see if i can correlate how I feel with the colorful graphs. I can tell you I don't feel great now not sure if that is carry over from being sick in December or stress or over training or lack of great sleep. only a few things to fix lol
Keep us posted! I would definitely give your Garmin time to find that baseline -- usually around 30 days. Then definitely start tweaking your training or sleep regimen to see what works!
I keep seeing people say this.. "HRV doesn't matter". I gotta believe if your HRV is a 10, your nervous system is not working near as good as someone with with an HRV of 100. Can too high of number also be bad, seems like it would, but who knows what that number is.
Yeah, we are careful to NOT say "hrv doesn't matter." Instead it's simply a number that needs to be benchmarked against itself. In a world of objective statistics, the subjective nature of HRV makes it tough to compare against others.
If a lower HRV relative to our personal baseline is “bad”, it seems naive to say that there is no such thing as a better or worse HRV in absolute terms.
I find it puzzling that the video states "not to worry too much about HRV", and that "there is no optimum HRV", or some words to that effect, but at the same time it says "improve" and "boost" HRV. There is a conceptual conflict here. How could one "boost" or "improve" something that there is no "optimum baseline" to shoot for? I have questions about HRV but have found no answers yet.
I measure my hrv every morning at the same time with a morpheus strap after a couple weeks you'll know your numbers and when they improve or when they tank its not about comparing to others its about your personal number and improving it
@jeffdbmb indeed. Coincidentally, I, too, use Morpheus every morning. I got my averages, and I will work to "boost" them. My question is: "How am I to know the optimum, or "good enough" HRV. This can not become a quest for the holy grail."
Really great questions. The thesis of the video is that the "comparison" is only really useful against yourself. You can "boost" your HRV relative to your own number.
Great video, but the choice of showing closed captions for some speakers while not for others seems like bias to me. Either show closed captions for all speakers, or let the user decide to use UA-cam closed captioning if they prefer.
Annnnnnd thank for aptly explaining garmins fatal problem along with oura and whoop. The scientist here just said theres no reference point for HRV to give it context. When you look at whoop garmin and oura they keep trying to put hrv in the context of your fitness 😂
The main criticism of HRV is that there are so many factors that affect it and can't be controlled so you can understand what has actually affected it. I find that the nights I sleep the best, are often ones with the lowest HRV, which is not how I've been led to expect HRV to behave. I think it's a useless piece of data.
Surely it would help to provide the HRV info in a different way - such a low /med /high or increasing /decreasing rather than a number which immediately makes people compare to others.
after a 19 day baseline, garmin will show balanced or unbalanced (specifically low or high) sounds like exactly what you describe. it also provides the data too, but focusing on the meter is probably better for the same reason you mentioned
Use a device to compare that is reliable and can measure precisely a marker like resting heart rate, HRV. Has to be a chest belt like Polar H10 f.e. but there are others. Maybe a friend has one and then you can link that up with EliteHRV If it's for sport you could also measure your ftp or rftp regarding the sport and orient your training at that. Use training peaks or others that calculate your TSS stress score.
So in essence this is a pointless metric, especially for those of us who monitor our health and fitness through regular HRM usage. Knowing our resting HR and recovery rates from exercise are far more useful metrics, and better indicators of overall health.
I wouldn't say it's "pointless"; there are some good things to learn from benchmarking against yourself. Our point is simply it's not helpful to compare your HRV with others.
Eating too close to bed really messes with my HRV. A 'good' night sleep for me has my HRV in the 'rest' range( under 20 stress score according to Garmin). If I eat to close to bed or drink in the evening, my HRV(stress score) will go between 30-50 while sleeping.
That’s such a great question! As we say in the video, “normal” is such a difficult metric to benchmark in HRV. It really is a number to follow and measure against yourself.
Absolutely not true. The relationship is quadratic, not linear. As with many things, too much or too little of anything is generally not good. Very high HRV (and cardiac vagal tone) can be a marker for both minor and serious health problems. In terms of minor health problems, your HRV can go up significantly (in relation to your baseline) just before you experience the symptoms of a cold or flu. A day or so later it will then usually become very low (in relation to your baseline) until you recover. More seriously, HRV can also increase significantly in the early stages of burnout. Kogan et al (2013) found evidence that people with either very low or very high HRV/CVT had lower wellbeing across a variety of measures. Some people with depression and/or anxiety actually have very high HRV. Additionally, HR is not always a reliable correlate of HRV. Some people with low HR actually have low HRV - their heart rate is low but more metronomic. And some people with higher HR have higher HRV as their HR is speeding up and slowing down erratically. The takeaway - it's not linear, dont compare yourself to others, obtain your baseline and monitor both deviations and contextual information that could provide insights.
Thank you for the video. Please drop the music.
This should have more views. Great content 🎉
HRV is a way for athletes measure response to training. Lower average HRV is indicating the athlete is under recovering. While high HRV indicates good recovery.
The basics of HRV is universal but the protocol used to measure it is different. HRV is measured in a number, but reported differently by companies. The major division is that Apple reports SDNN. Almost all others measuring at night are reporting RMSSD. Still others, to ' smooth ' the data report ln(RMSSD). All of these can be correct ways the report HRV but contributes to the confusion when comparing. There are 'norms' out there. It is easy to convert RMSSD to ln(RMSSD) on a calculator. Finally, Don't compare Apples to oranges.
We'll take your word for it!
The 'Apple to Oranges' was a subtle poke at the Apple company:)
Great video. Looking at the numbers it makes me sad that something like this isn’t viewed more. So much garbage gets millions of views.
We agree. Spread the word!
This is a useful video. There is a learning curve though. Like knowing about ECG's and experimenting with routine, fitness, meditation, diet, motivation etc.
This is an ad video for Oura. Everyone keep in mind measuring instruments at the finger or wrist or forearm are highly unreliable. And I say that as someone who mostly uses a Suunto wrist watch. The best conclusive meta analysis show this very strongly ( compared 18 studies). Only way to get a close measurement without actual ecg is a high level chest strap. Dont be fooled everything else is just marketing. Lets hope he got 100 dollars every time he said Oura 😂
There are people who have worn high level chest straps and Oura rings at the same time and results are very similar. I personally have worn an Oura rings for months and wondered about the HRV accuracy. I bought a Polar 10 and paired it up with Elite HRV and the results are basically the same as the Oura ring.
So apps like Welltory provide solid info if using something like a Polar H10 after establishing a baseline or is it all just pretty graphs?
The numbers from my Garmin Epix not be totally accurate, but they appear to be consistent - which to me at least seems more important.
Thanks for your time saving comment! 😊
My sleep "battery" on my Garmin Instinct is always near empty even after a good nights sleep this is scored by HRV.
I have a Garmin also. I have found that even when I sleep all night and feel rested, that isn't enough. Factors like amount of alcohol drank, medications, having irregular sleep hours, or staying up late, and working too hard have the biggest negative impact. Even if I get 8 hrs of sleep. I've learned a lot about recharging the body battery, and it's an eye opener.
Basically if not too active,waking hours bpm should sit between 75 - 100bpm .. if active it should elevate it.
i just got a garmin and it's only been a week and my numbers are super low, so of course I'm jumping to conclusions but I'll let it continue to baseline and then I'll try to see if i can correlate how I feel with the colorful graphs. I can tell you I don't feel great now not sure if that is carry over from being sick in December or stress or over training or lack of great sleep. only a few things to fix lol
Keep us posted! I would definitely give your Garmin time to find that baseline -- usually around 30 days. Then definitely start tweaking your training or sleep regimen to see what works!
I keep seeing people say this.. "HRV doesn't matter". I gotta believe if your HRV is a 10, your nervous system is not working near as good as someone with with an HRV of 100. Can too high of number also be bad, seems like it would, but who knows what that number is.
Yeah, we are careful to NOT say "hrv doesn't matter." Instead it's simply a number that needs to be benchmarked against itself. In a world of objective statistics, the subjective nature of HRV makes it tough to compare against others.
According to my fitbit, mine is usually between 19 to mid-twenties. Recently it has dipped to as low as 14. Definitely a little low.
If a lower HRV relative to our personal baseline is “bad”, it seems naive to say that there is no such thing as a better or worse HRV in absolute terms.
You could use percent deviation.
I find it puzzling that the video states "not to worry too much about HRV", and that "there is no optimum HRV", or some words to that effect, but at the same time it says "improve" and "boost" HRV. There is a conceptual conflict here. How could one "boost" or "improve" something that there is no "optimum baseline" to shoot for? I have questions about HRV but have found no answers yet.
I measure my hrv every morning at the same time with a morpheus strap after a couple weeks you'll know your numbers and when they improve or when they tank its not about comparing to others its about your personal number and improving it
@jeffdbmb indeed. Coincidentally, I, too, use Morpheus every morning. I got my averages, and I will work to "boost" them. My question is: "How am I to know the optimum, or "good enough" HRV. This can not become a quest for the holy grail."
Really great questions. The thesis of the video is that the "comparison" is only really useful against yourself. You can "boost" your HRV relative to your own number.
So can my HRV just have an upward trend forever until I die?
Great video, but the choice of showing closed captions for some speakers while not for others seems like bias to me. Either show closed captions for all speakers, or let the user decide to use UA-cam closed captioning if they prefer.
Coherent breathing increases your hrv
Annnnnnd thank for aptly explaining garmins fatal problem along with oura and whoop. The scientist here just said theres no reference point for HRV to give it context. When you look at whoop garmin and oura they keep trying to put hrv in the context of your fitness 😂
Eh, it's a tough pickle!
Drinking actually raises my HRV
#goals
The main criticism of HRV is that there are so many factors that affect it and can't be controlled so you can understand what has actually affected it. I find that the nights I sleep the best, are often ones with the lowest HRV, which is not how I've been led to expect HRV to behave. I think it's a useless piece of data.
What if it is so arbitrary that it just does not matter? We could just ignore it and move on.
As millions of healthy people have for thousands if not millions of years 😉
Surely it would help to provide the HRV info in a different way - such a low /med /high or increasing /decreasing rather than a number which immediately makes people compare to others.
after a 19 day baseline, garmin will show balanced or unbalanced (specifically low or high) sounds like exactly what you describe. it also provides the data too, but focusing on the meter is probably better for the same reason you mentioned
Been wearing an Oura ring for a year and my HRV suddenly dropped a month ago and it’s been driving me crazy. No idea why it changed.
Oh, great insight. Any changes to your diet or stress?
Use a device to compare that is reliable and can measure precisely a marker like resting heart rate, HRV. Has to be a chest belt like Polar H10 f.e. but there are others. Maybe a friend has one and then you can link that up with EliteHRV If it's for sport you could also measure your ftp or rftp regarding the sport and orient your training at that. Use training peaks or others that calculate your TSS stress score.
did Oura update the algorithm?
you look very inflamed
Fire emoji.
Your takeaway is not only insightful for the topic, but also a very polite. 😏
Dude someone with an HRV of 50 should be in the hospital, you are very handsome though
my HRV is on average 39
Yeh but i should not be taken without knowing like apple watchs does.
So what about if your in cartizem?
So in essence this is a pointless metric, especially for those of us who monitor our health and fitness through regular HRM usage. Knowing our resting HR and recovery rates from exercise are far more useful metrics, and better indicators of overall health.
I wouldn't say it's "pointless"; there are some good things to learn from benchmarking against yourself. Our point is simply it's not helpful to compare your HRV with others.
Eating too close to bed really messes with my HRV. A 'good' night sleep for me has my HRV in the 'rest' range( under 20 stress score according to Garmin). If I eat to close to bed or drink in the evening, my HRV(stress score) will go between 30-50 while sleeping.
My HRV went down to 12 and I’m in my mid 30s. Not sure where I should be?
Good question! Hard to say, but maybe a great thing to bring to a physician!
Informative video, but are we supposed to know who Tom is?
NOW you do!
0:56,
There’s something off about this guy
😎
Hello! Thanks for the video and article. Do you know what is the normal range in heart rate frequency in adult women while the phase1 NREM ?
That’s such a great question! As we say in the video, “normal” is such a difficult metric to benchmark in HRV. It really is a number to follow and measure against yourself.
ok thank you for replying :) !@@SleepIsTheFoundation
Mine is under 20 on a Fitbit and my heart rate is around 60? Marco is cool 😎
me too, from 18-13 , is this normal?
HRV - the higher the better. For everyone. If you can't track HRV the biggest correlation is the higher your heart rate (from base) the lower the HRV.
Absolutely not true. The relationship is quadratic, not linear. As with many things, too much or too little of anything is generally not good. Very high HRV (and cardiac vagal tone) can be a marker for both minor and serious health problems. In terms of minor health problems, your HRV can go up significantly (in relation to your baseline) just before you experience the symptoms of a cold or flu. A day or so later it will then usually become very low (in relation to your baseline) until you recover. More seriously, HRV can also increase significantly in the early stages of burnout. Kogan et al (2013) found evidence that people with either very low or very high HRV/CVT had lower wellbeing across a variety of measures. Some people with depression and/or anxiety actually have very high HRV. Additionally, HR is not always a reliable correlate of HRV. Some people with low HR actually have low HRV - their heart rate is low but more metronomic. And some people with higher HR have higher HRV as their HR is speeding up and slowing down erratically. The takeaway - it's not linear, dont compare yourself to others, obtain your baseline and monitor both deviations and contextual information that could provide insights.
It's total garbage