Heart Rate Variability (HRV) reliably tests health conditions ranging from respiratory diseases and cardiovascular ailments[1]ANS Clinical Studies to COVID-19[2]Assessment of physiological signs associated with COVID-19 measured using wearable devices.
HRV improves with increased levels fitness[3]Heart rate variability and aerobic fitness.
HRV declines with age[4]Short-Term Heart Rate Variability—Influence of Gender and Age in Healthy Subjects.
It’s always been self-evident that increased exercise reverses the effects of ageing. So, besides telling us whether we are ill, with HRV we have a reliable metric that tells us each day whether we are making progress in our effort to beat time.
But HRV changes during the day, depending on a number of factors, particularly the levels of activity and stress. Because it is a measure of stress on the system, intense exercise has a negative impact on HRV in the short term. And continued intense exercise leading to overtraining and fatigue will a negative impact on long term HRV.
Breathing and state of mind have an impact on the HRV.
To avoid unreliable HRV data we need to have a consistent measuring routine. It is best to take the HRV measurement first thing in the morning, seated, and breathing in an almost meditative state.
Like brushing your teeth each morning, it should become routine. Just one that will let you live longer and with a far better quality of life.
Then the trend in the data will tell you whether you are making progress and if you are overtraining. Sudden changes will tell you that you are ill.
Start measuring now.
Or you can choose to live fast, die young, and have a good looking corpse – but maybe it’s already too late for that.
HRV Health is a Swiss organization dedicated to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle over medication as the global solution to the healthcare crises. If you share this approach, please vote at: https://hrvhealth.org/hrvhealth_vote.php
