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HRV Heart rate variability in health app what's everyone seeing?
- Thread starter betabeta
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I did a good bit of reading about HRV. It's not crystal clear that this is purely or even principally a physical thing. There appear to be strong correlations to parasympathetic vs. sympathetic ("higher" vs. "reptile") brain engagement.
Searching on the accuracy. Honestly I would NOT trust this indication. Everything I read about states to get an accurate reading you must do a test in a doctors office. They have you wear a heart monitor on your chest. Part of the test is laying down for 15min and then standing up 15min.
Every app that I have seen does NOT work with the watch in terms of sensors. All need chest straps of some sort to get a good reading. My watch is not super tight and I find it hard to trust the random readings from an loosening fitting optical wrist sensor. I have seen anything from 5ms to 120ms with an average of 44. Going through the breath app does not always update the watch. I can pretty much get in the 70's if I sit and breath really slow (in through my nose, out my mouth).
It is nice they have it but the accuracy is lacking big time if you ask me.
Every app that I have seen does NOT work with the watch in terms of sensors. All need chest straps of some sort to get a good reading. My watch is not super tight and I find it hard to trust the random readings from an loosening fitting optical wrist sensor. I have seen anything from 5ms to 120ms with an average of 44. Going through the breath app does not always update the watch. I can pretty much get in the 70's if I sit and breath really slow (in through my nose, out my mouth).
It is nice they have it but the accuracy is lacking big time if you ask me.
i suppose it is good to look at for your own personal history over long periods of time, months or more... ie. has my cardio build up resulted in higher HRV (good) or have I been overtraining because this month my HRV is lower (bad.) I wish someone could give me an idea where as a 40 year old male I should "average" for poor/fair/good/excellent but it seems Apple doesn't want to do that and perhaps it is unique to the individual?
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
This is exactly what you should expect. Unfortunately mine hasn't tended to follow this pattern as closely, just tends to seem more random.
Yeah I'd be curious to see data on the accuracy of this. I'd guess it's pretty off (which is probably why I don't think Apple has really talked about it). With that being said, if it even has some semblance of accuracy I could see it becoming relatively accurate when compiled together. Meaning one reading of 50ms might not be worthwhile, but if you have 1,000 data points randomly measured over the course of a year which average 50ms, that could be much more meaningful.
Of course an important purpose for HVM is measuring stress and body recovery time, so accuracy would be needed for that.
Exactly. Which would probably be more accurate than one 15-minute session at a doctor's office when you have all sort of other factors that could have influenced that one particular session.
For me personally, since I got the watch in Sept. 2017 my month to month average HRV numbers have been between 42ms and 45ms which seems pretty consistent.
Here’s an article that may answer SOME questions. It’s crazy how hard it is to find info on what numbers mean. The way apple calculates HRV is the least popular way (which makes find info harder.) I’ve been digging through studies to see what numbers mean. Will post all meaningful sources.
https://www.imore.com/heart-rate-variability-hrv-what-it-and-why-does-apple-watch-track-it
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Yes! Find a baseline. I try to use the breathe app a few times a day. In the morning after waking up, sometime around lunch time, and in the evening. This vital sign can be person specific e.g. blood pressure. 120/80 is “normal” but it varies depending on sex, gender, age, etc. Someone I know has a normal BP of 90/60. If hers is 120/80 she has high BP. A person may interpret her 120/80 to be normal however it is not. Past medical history and baseline are very important.
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I’ve found one study (so far) that tries to set “normal” values for age groups. Will report back.
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These two systems may convey an underlying condition. I suppose that is why apple is interested in it. You can also look at the two systems as rest/digest vs fight/flight. Variability is important as we react to stress with Physiological changes. I think that’s what they are getting at. You’re spot on. It is not crystal clear. It’s very hard to find info on the subject.
https://www.imore.com/heart-rate-variability-hrv-what-it-and-why-does-apple-watch-track-it
[doublepost=1522350064][/doublepost]
Yes! Find a baseline. I try to use the breathe app a few times a day. In the morning after waking up, sometime around lunch time, and in the evening. This vital sign can be person specific e.g. blood pressure. 120/80 is “normal” but it varies depending on sex, gender, age, etc. Someone I know has a normal BP of 90/60. If hers is 120/80 she has high BP. A person may interpret her 120/80 to be normal however it is not. Past medical history and baseline are very important.
[doublepost=1522350147][/doublepost]
I’ve found one study (so far) that tries to set “normal” values for age groups. Will report back.
[doublepost=1522350351][/doublepost]
These two systems may convey an underlying condition. I suppose that is why apple is interested in it. You can also look at the two systems as rest/digest vs fight/flight. Variability is important as we react to stress with Physiological changes. I think that’s what they are getting at. You’re spot on. It is not crystal clear. It’s very hard to find info on the subject.
Here's a thoughtful article that will make you re-think how much you care about HRV numbers:
https://www.uphillathlete.com/why-we-stopped-relying-on-hrv-apps/
https://www.uphillathlete.com/why-we-stopped-relying-on-hrv-apps/
I generally notice that the passive reading I get from just generally heart beat recordings to be much lower than reading I get from using the breath app
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But numerically what’s a low number for apples measurement and a healthy number and a high number?
So is there some kind of chart to figure out what HRV's are even good? I just got a series 4? I run 8-10 miles a day my HR at night was in the low 30s and the HRV was 182, what does 182 even mean.......?
It is just something that Apple could get the watch to show and can/will vary wildly so do not get hung up on the numbers.
What's the practical use of HRV
Well, the higher HRV the better for you. If your HRV is low it means your body is under the stress (physical or mental). You can use HRV data, for example, in your training program. When HRV is low it's better to relax more and skip training. When HRV is high that's mean your body is fully recovered and you can do any activity (sport, training).
Also, when you constantly see low HRV you need to change something in your life (sleep longer, relax better, drink natural mint tea, etc.
). So, the lower your HRV the bigger problems you have with your nervous system or physical state. You must try to support high HRV.
Well, the higher HRV the better for you. If your HRV is low it means your body is under the stress (physical or mental). You can use HRV data, for example, in your training program. When HRV is low it's better to relax more and skip training. When HRV is high that's mean your body is fully recovered and you can do any activity (sport, training).
Also, when you constantly see low HRV you need to change something in your life (sleep longer, relax better, drink natural mint tea, etc.
). So, the lower your HRV the bigger problems you have with your nervous system or physical state. You must try to support high HRV.
The best time to get a fairly accurate HRV reading is when you first wake up, immediately enact the "Breathing" app on the watch. That will generate a good HRV at the best time to obtain one. Do that every morning as a routine, and then you can see whether the number is going up (good, more relaxed, less stress, body recovering from exercise), or if it is in a downward trend (more stress, etc. Time to take a day off, or at least an easy 30 minutes to close your ring.)
I have been observing HRV and I am not sure how good it is but I do notice that the values are highest when sleeping and lowest during stresses. This is just after I did breathing on watch. I know my heart rate does vary a lot and quickly varies if I decompress myself. On average, it's 50 ms. I am 47 years white male.
