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HRV (heart rate variability)

While re-watching my favourite video on “Being brilliant every single day” from Dr. Alan Watkins, I realised I completely missed the information about HRV last time I watched it. So I did a quick research into it and I am very curious whether or not working with HRV data can bring improvements into my life and performance. HRV stands for heart rate variability and it represents the gaps between each heart beat. Almost everyone is usually familiar with HR (heart rate) but research suggest that HRV provides a better understanding of what is going on with out body/system. 

Generally speaking, this data is widely used for sportsmen/sportswomen but technically speaking it should be beneficial even for mental performance as it colerates with the whole ANS (autonomous nervous system). The higher variability suggest the healthier system, the lower variability suggests the opposite. I list few articles below that are worth looking at and I will update this page with further details as I collect the resources and experience. 

  1. Being brilliant every single day – part 1 (talks about HRV)
    Being brilliant every single day – part 2
  2. Article from my friend Miro Mayro Sekula – BreakingNutritionist:
    Heart rate variability and orthostatic test 
  3. CorSense and Elite HRV app
  4. Insights into Apple Watch HRV

So far it seems that chest strap (closest to the heart) provides more accurate results and measuring HRV first thing in the morning supposed to be the prefered method. Although the Apple watch could be providing relatively similar, there are reason why other prefer to use Garmin solutions, Polar and other tools / devices. Generally the investment looks to be several hundred dollars so it is better to spend some time researching to make this investment worthwhile. 

If you have tips and tricks to share, let me know via my LinkedIn profile or contact form