Do you measure HRV with a health wearable (watch, Oura ring, Whoop, etc.)?

[river-wear]

Hi everyone, I haven't been on here in ages, but I've been wondering about something.

Do any of you use a device that reports on your Heart Rate Variability? (Here's what it is: Resting Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability (HRV): What’s the Difference? — Part 1) Counter-intuitively, a high HRV is good, indicating better health and lower stress.

I'm wondering if we, as a population, tend to have lower HRV than would normally be expected for our age groups because for many of us, our hearts have had to compensate for bad valves. My thought is that perhaps after years of extra strain on our hearts, our HRV may be adversely affected. This article has charts by gender and age groups: Resting Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability (HRV): What’s the Difference? — Part 3

My HRV seems rather low, given my age and level of fitness. Maybe (likely) I've been under a greater than normal amount of stress since I started measuring HRV, but maybe it's because I had a massive leak across my aortic valve for 40+ years that my heart compensated for fabulously (until enlarging enough to trigger intervention).

 

[chebag]

I also monitor my HRV with a device. I've read elsewhere that a lower HRV is the case. If I had the time right now, I'd do a science direct search for HRV and valve disease/replacement, because I'm pretty sure that's been tested.

I lived with moderate to severe insufficiency throughout my twenties before endocarditis led to a valve replacement. I'm eight months out from replacement, and my HRV is hovering around 35-50 when it should be north of sixty given I'm (barely) in my 30s and playing basketball/frisbee/walking 10k steps a day. I dip as low as ~20 sometimes, but that's usually because of overexertion or alcohol.

 

[ATHENS1964]

https://www.escardio.org/static-file/Escardio/Guidelines/Scientific-Statements/guidelines-Heart-Rate-Variability-FT-1996.pdf

 

[leadville]

I have a mechanical valve , my HRV is good if im not overtraining,

being trained or fit is great but does not guarantee high HRV
its either high or low due to being either rested or not.

the take away is if its low then you are not ready to train, you need rest.

stress will definitely lower HRV,

The sympathetic / parasympathetic nervous system is the driver
electrolyte balance can be a factor

 

[nobog]

I'll sum it up:

HRV = pulse to pulse variation, measured in milliseconds, usually between 20 and 200.

This is unique to everyone so it's not like you can say this is low or this is high.

A metric not generally used day-to-day.

What is HRV? - Healthy Heart Rate Variability & How To Track It (ouraring.com)

 

[pellicle]

This is unique to everyone so it's not like you can say this is low or this is high.

so perhaps its a bit like a fingerprint, the swirls are not indicators?

I'd not heard of the idea before this post ... perhaps its a bit like 'biorhythms' and the calculators of yor

Biorhythm (pseudoscience) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

(ouhh ... looks complex, must be proof)

 

[leadville]

You can alter your HRV by getting fitter and having good rest.

It does alter.

Stress will lower the HRV.

My own data shows my hrv changes by external factors like rest and exercise and stress..

The idea that HRV is a fixed pattern is incorrect

 

[pellicle]

The idea that HRV is a fixed pattern is incorrect

It's all new to me, had never heard of it before this.

 

[Eva]

I was searching for info re HRV this morning and I found this:
”The bottom line
There are questions about the accuracy, reliability and overall usefulness of tracking HRV. While HRV has been linked to overall physical fitness, the correlation between changes in HRV and how your autonomic nervous system is functioning will require much more research. Still, if you decide to use HRV as another piece of health data, do not get too confident if you have a high HRV, or too worried if your HRV is low. Think of HRV as another way you might tap into your body and mind are responding to what your daily experiences.”

You can read the whole article: Heart rate variability: How it might indicate well-being - Harvard Health

 

[river-wear]

Thank you for your thoughts on this. I did see a positive trend in February for a couple of weeks when I was under less stress. I'm back to where I was though. Might be time for some lifestyle changes.

 

[d333gs]

I was searching for info re HRV this morning and I found this:
”The bottom line
There are questions about the accuracy, reliability and overall usefulness of tracking HRV. While HRV has been linked to overall physical fitness, the correlation between changes in HRV and how your autonomic nervous system is functioning will require much more research. Still, if you decide to use HRV as another piece of health data, do not get too confident if you have a high HRV, or too worried if your HRV is low. Think of HRV as another way you might tap into your body and mind are responding to what your daily experiences.”

You can read the whole article: Heart rate variability: How it might indicate well-being - Harvard Health

I also monitor my HRV with a device. I've read elsewhere that a lower HRV is the case. If I had the time right now, I'd do a science direct search for HRV and valve disease/replacement, because I'm pretty sure that's been tested.

I lived with moderate to severe insufficiency throughout my twenties before endocarditis led to a valve replacement. I'm eight months out from replacement, and my HRV is hovering around 35-50 when it should be north of sixty given I'm (barely) in my 30s and playing basketball/frisbee/walking 10k steps a day. I dip as low as ~20 sometimes, but that's usually because of overexertion or alcohol.

Hi, I have HRV on my apple watch

 

[chebag]

I can confirm at least for me that after a night of bad sleep or if I have one too many drinks, my HRV will plummet.

 

[nobog]

I can confirm at least for me that after a night of bad sleep or if I have one too many drinks, my HRV will plummet.

By "plummet" if you mean your HRV is low - that's good - that means there is less pulse to pulse variation. So drink up ! Personally I think the entire HRV is some grad student's way of making a technical paper or thesis for a PHD. Of all the parameters of heart (or heart valve) performance, this has got to rate near the bottom of the list.

 

[Pete.C]

My hrv matched me having my first mvr episode exactly, then went down to normal levels.
Seven months later I had another episode, this time it hasn’t gone back to normal, or pre mvr levels.
All data was recorded by Apple Watch. I’ve attached screen shots from Apple health.
If I look at the dates they match exactly when I had my mvr/ afib attacks, can’t be coincidental?

Pete

 

[Protimenow]

By "plummet" if you mean your HRV is low - that's good - that means there is less pulse to pulse variation. So drink up ! Personally I think the entire HRV is some grad student's way of making a technical paper or thesis for a PHD. Of all the parameters of heart (or heart valve) performance, this has got to rate near the bottom of the list.

I'd listen to nobog. I have it on my watch, too, but had no idea what it was, no idea what it meant, and after reading this thread, really don't even care to look at that particular number.

 

[ajrl]

For me, my Fitbit (charge 4) shows middle 20s (measured during sleep) while a polar chest belt shows middle 60s (relaxed, sitting down). Guess which i prefer?