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Most people are generally familiar with the newly popular acronym HRV, which stands for Heart Rate Variability. This term is often used casually when talking about health and is now included in the data received from smartwatches or wearable fitness trackers. Most people aren’t exactly sure what this health measurement means and are even more surprised to learn that it can be used as a clear indicator of someone's health. Beyond understanding what it is and its importance, the biggest question may be how to improve this critical piece of health data.
HRV is simply the time calculated in milliseconds between individual heartbeats. The time begins when one heartbeat ends and the next begins and has little to do with resting or peak heart rates, although those two things may coincide with an HRV score. HRV is influenced by the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic nervous systems (rest and digest), which constantly battle one another throughout the day. Think of it as a tug-of-war. On one end is the sympathetic nervous system, which is activated during times of stress (good or bad), and on the other end of the rope is the parasympathetic nervous system, which is activated during times of rest.
Breaking it Down Simply
Picture the sympathetic side being pulled by Eddie Hall, 2017’s world strongest man, and the parasympathetic side is loaded with 2018’s Worlds Strongest Man, ‘The Mountain’, and the US Women's Weightlifting Team. We have an intense battle pulling your heart rate in two directions with more power to the parasympathetic side, giving you a high heart rate variability score. We get in trouble when we replace The Mountain and some of the strongest women in the world with….4’10’’ actor Danny Devito.
Danny Devito represents poor sleep, the Standard American Diet, little to no stress management, and a sedentary lifestyle. Eddie represents a stressful job, a toxic relationship, high-intensity training for two hours a day, six days per week, capped off with an indulgence in alcohol. Can you picture poor Dany Devito getting dragged on his stomach, desperately hanging on to the rope for dear life? The sympathetic nervous system wins, all day, every day, and when this happens too often, the time between heartbeats decreases significantly, resulting in lower heart rate variability.
The American dream/hustle and bustle of life has resulted in people who live stressful lives with limited stress management skills and a lifestyle that doesn’t encourage a parasympathetic state. Working too much, sleeping too little, consuming processed foods and alcohol, and bottling up emotions wreak havoc on cardiac health, which a simple HRV score can measure.
HRV and Predicting Mortality
According to the Harvard Medical School, “Over the past few decades, research has shown a relationship between low HRV and worsening depression or anxiety. A low HRV is even associated with an increased risk of death and cardiovascular disease”(1). Given that HRV directly reflects your ability to handle stress, your daily habits, and your skills around stress management, this isn’t surprising.
HRV considers everything about us, making it an unambiguous representation of someone's current health and a predictor of health in the future. With cardiac patients, an HRV score below 50 is not only considered to be highly unhealthy, but it can be a predictor for morbidity and mortality. HRV in the range of 50-80 is considered compromised, and over 80 is supposed to be healthy. Unfortunately, given the state of health in our population, averages are far below these numbers. According to WHOOP, one of the largest health wearable technology companies, ‘The average heart rate variability for all WHOOP members is 65 for men and 62 for women.’’(2)
Why Does This Matter?
The world of health and fitness is where we finally recognize a difference between appearance and health. They are not synonymous. We are antiquating things like BMI, which used to be one of the most popular ways to observe our health. When optimizing health, there may be no better test than HRV. It is the culmination of everything in your life and possibly the only data that incorporates lifestyle, nutrition, and mental health. We have come to understand that mental health plays a pivotal role in physical health, so it makes sense to use data that is at least partially derived from the emotional responses someone has to the world.
How to Improve
Central Athlete Coach Jesse defines health as “Controlling the controllables and letting go of the uncontrollables.’’ There may not be a better recipe for improving HRV. What does this look like? Having extreme ownership of what one can control such as workouts, relationships, and what is put into one’s body. Allowing ourselves to be consumed or stressed by things we cannot prevent, such as rush hour traffic or a bathroom leak, wreaks havoc on our HRV. Establishing a great sleep routine, doing something fun daily, and practicing gratitude and intentional breathwork help manage stress! Constantly working on this balance will improve HRV and, thus, one's health. This is easier said than done! As coaches, we help work on everything that affects this critical score. If you need some guidance, schedule a free strategy session!
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