Heart rate variability is an evaluator of how your body is recovering from stress and of overall fitness. Heart rate variability is also a metric of our well-being. The Elite HRV team explores with us the link between HRV and stress resilience.
What Exactly is Heart Rate Variability?
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is an accurate, non-invasive measure of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) – which responds to everything: how you exercise, recover, eat, sleep and perceive stress.
We like to call HRV “the glue marker”. It's a powerful biomarker that binds together subjective and objective data for more effective decision making. When measured alone, without any other context, HRV tells you the general state of your nervous system and health but cannot tell you what is causing or affecting your condition.
Heart rate variability is a powerful biomarker that binds together other subjective and objective data for more effective decision making.
Why Should We Be Interested in Tracking HRV as a Metric of Our Well-Being?
Tracking HRV in conjunction with additional context such as energy levels, fitness tests, sleep quality, a food log, etc. can help you identify which specific lifestyle factors are most affecting your systemic health and progress.
What you track alongside HRV depends very much on your goals. Working with a coach or health practitioner is hands down the best way to determine which additional metrics to incorporate.
Is There a Healthy Heart Rate Variability Range?
Heart rate variability is highly based on individual circumstances. Everything from your mindset, air quality, age, and exercise patterns can affect HRV. This is why we emphasize personal trends and improvement over comparing ourselves to others. A starting point can be comparing your HRV to others within your population demographic. For example the average HRV score is 59.3 for Elite HRV users.
Everything from your mindset and air quality to age and exercise patterns can affect HRV.
A higher HRV is correlated with younger biological age and better aerobic fitness. The key to improvement is acute stress (training) followed by adequate recovery. Scoring low on any given day is usually nothing to worry about. It is your average HRV over time that matters most and an achievable goal with proper tracking and training.
Why Should We Be Concerned About Accessing a Rest and Digest State?
A healthy Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is able to oscillate smoothly between "fight-or-flight" and "rest-and-recover" responses, depending on the situation. Parasympathetic “rest and digest” activation conserves energy, constricts pupils, aids digestion, and slows heart rate. The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PSNS) is meant to help build for the long term and is needed to grow faster, stronger, and healthier.
Parasympathetic “rest and digest” activation conserves energy, constricts pupils, aids digestion, and slows heart rate.
The Sympathetic Nervous System’s physiological response to stress focuses on short term survival in lieu of long-term health. This acute response can become chronic (constant, long -term) in the presence of stress from modern daily life such as work, relationships, financial, environmental, dietary, physical, lifestyle choices, etc. Chronically accumulated stress from multiple sources can all contribute to drastically reduced health and performance over the long-term.
What is the Link Between HRV and Stress Resilience?
Just like exercise strengthens and tones your muscles, HRV Biofeedback tones physically strengthen your ANS, lungs, heart, and all the connecting systems, in a balanced way. This creates resilience and improved capacity to handle stress.
Can You Share Three of Your Favorite Heart Rate Variability Training Techniques?
- HRV biofeedback and guided resonance frequency breathwork
- HRV affirmations along with guided breathing exercises
- Mindfulness and meditation
Get to Know the Team at Elite HRV
What books does your team love right now?
Solving the Autoimmune Puzzle and Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve.
Favorite quote?
How can you let the new in when holding on to the past – unknown.
What is one biohack you cannot live without?
Red light therapy.
Last, what hacks does your team utilize for better sleep performance?
Following a solid sleep hygiene routine is huge for us. Going to bed at the same bedtime every night, using blackout curtains, cooler room temperature, no electronics in the bedroom, shutting off electronics 2 hours prior to bed are also a vital part of our sleep routine.
We also love lavender essential oils, Organic Nighty Night tea, ZMA capsules, 3D sleep masks, and some of us prefer memory foam pillows.
Connect With Elite HRV
Elite HRV is a Heart Rate Variability (HRV) tracking app for deep insight into your health, stress, recovery and nervous system balance. Learn more here and check out their podcast where world class doctors, coaches and athletes cover the latest research (from the lab and field), and biohacking methods for peak performance and longevity.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The products and services mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
The recommendations in this article represent the opinions and experience of the interviewee, and are not a guarantee, promise, or reflection of other users’ results.
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