What is HRV and how do you track/use it on Apple Watch and iPhone?

What is HRV?

HRV stands for Heart Rate Variability, a measure of how the time between heartbeats changes. You won't notice these tiny differences, but devices like the Apple Watch capture HRV, which is measured in milliseconds.

Some medical professionals believe that measuring HRV through the skin using smartwatches and other similar trackers is less accurate than specialized medical devices. But studies have shown that the Apple Watch is just as reliable as products like Polar's heart rate monitor for measuring HRV.

Why is HRV important?

While it may sound like a bad thing at first, a higher HRV actually indicates better health, happiness, less stress, and may mean you're recovered and ready to exercise.

Many health and fitness professionals consider HRV to be one of the best indicators of knowing when your body needs rest or is ready to perform, as well as providing insight into the condition of your autonomic nervous system.

Along with HRV, aerobic fitness based on VO2 max is a valuable metric to note as it can indicate and predict overall health.

Here's how the Cleveland Clinic describes HRV:

The variability in your heart reflects your body's adaptability. If your heart rate varies a lot, this is usually a sign that your body is adapting to a variety of changes. People with high heart rate variability are generally less stressed and happier.

On the other hand, low HRV (at rest) may indicate that your body is less adaptable/resilient and may be a sign of future health issues or underlying health issues.

What is a good HRV number?

HRV is a very personal and ever-changing metric. It also depends on a variety of factors, including physical and mental health/stress, diet, nutrition, alcohol use, sleep habits, age, gender, genetics, exercise frequency/intensity, etc.

HRV can also change a lot throughout the day, so don't worry about tracking it hourly. With this in mind, it's important not to use HRV by comparing it to others, but simply to look at your own HRV trends over time. If you have questions about your HRV number, talk to your doctor.

But if you're curious about general HRV numbers, Whoop has released the middle 50% of its users' HRV values ​​by age:

How to on Apple Using HRV on Watch and iPhone

How to find your HRV Apple Watch data

For Apple Watch users 18 and older, HRV is automatically recorded through Apple Watch (in most countries/regions ). However, you'll need to go to the Health app on your iPhone to view the data.

• Open the Health app on iPhone
• Click the Browse tab in the lower right corner
• Select now"Heart" > "Heart Rate Variability"
• At the top, you can change the HRV data view by day, week, month, half a year and year

How to force HRV recording using Apple Watch

If you use Apple Watch to take manual HRV readings at rest, and do them at the same time every day, you can get more accurate and Potentially more useful data.

• In addition to automatic readings, you can force the Apple Watch to record your HRV# by opening the Mindfulness app and selecting
Breathe ##Soon you'll see new HRV data in the Health app on iPhone

Get more value from your HRV data

The sticking point is Apple The Watch and iOS Health app don't provide any recommendations or insights into your HRV data like Whoop or Oura.

It’s useful to know that rising HRV is a good indicator of overall health, but what about more actionable insights?

And was impressed with its recommendations. After you allow it to read your HRV data from the Health app, the app will compare your current HRV to your baseline to make recommendations such as taking time to recover, "hold steady but listen to your body," or "Ready to perform at your best."

Training Today calls this the Readiness to Train (RTT) score and works on an easy-to-use, color-coded 0-10 scale. I find these tips very helpful in listening to what my body is telling me.

Training Today is free to download from the App Store with in-app purchases to unlock all the app’s features.

Another similar third-party option is HRV4Training, which sells for $9.99 and offers a similar experience to Training Today.

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