How You Can Improve Your HRV
HRV stands for Heart Rate Variability
Most of the things I do, I turn into a competition. Improving my HRV number is becoming one of them.
What’s HRV?
Heart rate variability is a metric that has popped onto the scene since the addition of smart watches being able to read and detect heart rate. It’s a metric that helps “measure the difference between consecutive beats of your heart”.
Basically, HRV measures the variation in time between each heartbeat. It's not just about how fast your heart is beating, but also how the intervals between beats change. Think of it as the heartbeat's flexibility or adaptability.
When your heart beats with a steady rhythm, it might seem like everything's fine. But when there's a healthy amount of variability between beats, it indicates that your body's nervous system is working in harmony. It's like a sign of resilience and adaptability.
HRV is controlled by your automatic nervous system and stress, sleep, activities, and mood influence your HRV stats. A higher HRV is generally better, compared to a lower HRV.
How is HRV useful for runners?
Let’s say you’ve been tracking your HRV for a month. You notice that the day after a hard workout or a long run you feel run down and fatigued. That makes sense, right? You just did a hard effort. Your body needs rest before it can do it again. Your HRV reflects that. After time and with good rest, hydration, and a good night’s sleep, your HRV number creeps back up.
When your HRV number rises to its baseline number, it’s a sign that you’re ready to go hard again.
Here is some anecdotal information to help reinforce HRV: When I do low-intensity exercise or I have a day with no workouts, I have a high HRV status overnight.
If I do a hard workout, an overly stressful day, get bad sleep, or any combination of those mentioned, I have a lower HRV score. If I have alcohol that day, forget about it. My HRV status is considerably lower than the rest of the week.
Case Study of 1 🍺
To highlight just how bad alcohol is for me (and most likely, you too)… I had one post-dinner beer last week. I know that the later in the day I have a drink, the worse my HRV score is. {If I day-drink (how lucky), there’s a better chance my body can cope and recover.} That night I had one beer, I had an HRV score of a 45.
The other 6 days of that week, I didn’t have any drinks. I still did a long run and a workout, which as I mentioned can lower your HRV score, and even then, I did runs and rides at night (which lowers my HRV score) and the average for the other 6 days was a 70.25.
That’s a very considerable difference! Not only did my watch tell me I got bad sleep, I could have told anyone I felt like crap without seeing the data my watch gave me. The data reinforced how I felt.
What Does It All Mean?
HRV is a good tool to use and while it’s not the be-all-end-all, it’s useful.
Speaking from experience, I know that if I work out hard on Tuesday, that Wednesday is gonna be tough. I’ll be run down and tired. I try not to do anything taxing or strenuous because I know it’ll delay my recovery even more.
My HRV score will validate that feeling. I don’t rely on it and only train when my watch says so, but I use it as a guide to validate how I’m feeling.
I’d urge you to do the same. Know your score, but also know how you’re feeling. If the two match up, then you know what you can accomplish during that session. If you feel low and you press on anyway, that’s totally up to you, but remember that too many days of pressing when you need the rest will result in a higher risk of injury, chronic fatigue, or illness.
Imagine crossing that finish line with a new personal best, the exhilaration pulsing through your veins as you realize your hard work has paid off. That's not just a dream—it's within your reach, and I'm here to help you make it a reality.
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Friday’s Action Plan:
If you have a smart watch, start tracking your HRV score and see how you can optimize your lifestyle to improve your performance.
On the Blog:
The Optimal Number of Days You Should Be Running Per Week
The 8 Principles that Guide My Running
…And From the Newsletter:
Effective Post Race Recovery Tips
Take Your Recovery Runs Seriously
Quote of the Week:
Never let the fear of failure stop you from attempting to reach a goal.
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