Your HRV reading isn’t simply a reflection on the training you’ve just done. It’s measuring your sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system balance, so is affected by all the factors in your life (sleep, work stress etc.). As others have stated earlier it’s more important to look at trends rather than day to day fluctuations.
Thanks for the response. I think, in this case, they are a bit misleading me by saying - hey, your scores are trending positively, proceed as planned.
How did you establish the HRV baseline with that setup? Do you just look at long term averages? And do you measure consistently with the breathe app or do you just use the random measurements of the watch?
For my set-up HRV baseline is determined by ‘breathe’ data processed in the auto sleep app. I would run the breath session once every morning when I wake. I gave it a month or two to establish my baseline before making any calls on my training. It’s a handy guide not to be taken too seriously.
I use the measurement of the breathe app. I consistently measure when I wake up, I randomly measure when I feel fatigued, before a hard workout, after a big day on the bike, and on rest days. HRV is not the end all be all, there are plenty of measurements one can use in conjunction, HRV is simply one more tool to help you see the bigger picture.
I believe “higher is better.” The idea is that a fatigued body shows a heart rate that is less variable and less responsive to minor variations, so it’s more like a metronome. A well rested body makes more continuous fine adjustments. Something like that.
I came down with some type of bug. Having a HRV baseline has been useful for keeping me off the bike so I don’t bury myself. Frustrating being off the bike, but short term loss for a long term gain I guess.
Feel better! I’ve been mostly healthy in the few weeks I’ve been doing HRV. Curious how noticeable a decline you see in your HRV now with the bug?
I’m using HRV4TRAINING. Which converts it to a 10 point scale based on your baseline. If I’m recovered it will be in the 8-9.5 range. It’s been consistently in the 7-7.5 range while I’ve been dealing with it. Felt well enough to do a 30 min recovery ride and heart rate and RPE were good. But symptoms and depressed HRV are persisting so staying off anything long or hard.
I get scores between 5 and 7, is this individual, I wonder, or I am a mister fatigue?
Its all individual. That’s why you have to let it build a baseline for it to give recommendations on. HRV is still pretty close to black magic I think.
I wouldn’t be concerned about the population chart. Your personal range of rMSSD values are ultimately down to genetics, so I wouldn’t worry about where your values rank in the general HRV4T population.
Marco Altini has done some analysis of rMSSD versus performance - he found a weak correlation between rMSSD versus performance, but there were a number of athletes with a low rMSSD still performing well:
Yikes. Now I feel like I need to be one of those outliers 
(Secretly: 
/me throws trainer in the bin)
It’s really not anything to worry about. I’m not far off from your numbers and a few years older too.
HRV: ~low 50s
Current CTL: 91
W/kg: 4.7
Kids have been sick for a week and I’ve been in the 30s fighting it but still felt good enough on the bike. I only really pay attention if I’m feeling it in my training. If it’s low and I’m flat on a day I shouldn’t be tired I know it’s time to back off.
I just downloaded Elite HRV, but also saw Welltory https://welltory.com/
Has anybody used Welltory? It displayed much more detailed info including Mean RR, SDNN, RMSSD, MxDMn, pNN50, AMo50,Total Power, HF, LF, VLF, etc. It also gave ranges and green/yellow/red on each.
Does HRV4 display these? I am just starting to learn about this and a newbie (1+ year TrainerRoad), so didn’t want to pay for anything until I learned more about how it could help me.
Thanks for any insight!
I’ve never used Welltory. Looks like you’d end up with paralysis by analysis with all that data though 
HRV4T displays a recovery score, rMSSD and resting HR.
From everything I’ve read and listened to, HRV4T and Elite HRV seem to be the HRV apps recommended by most people. I’d personally recommend HRV4T. The developer (Marco Altini) is great as well if you have any questions about the app.
I’ve been using HRV4Training for over a year now and second this. Marco is super-responsive to questions and feedback. And whenever I email him I get a response within minutes!? 
I’ve also made a couple small suggestions and was happy to find them implemented in the next app update. Highly recommended. 
Does anyone use the Polar Orthostatic test that is available on the M460 cycling computer and the new Vantage range. I use the recovery status on the Training diary to keep a balanced intensity and monitor the monring after a particulary hard day. The Orthostatic tests gives both resting and standing heart rates and HRV figures and a general recovered/not recovered status. Also Polar Flow software is free of charge and very good in my opinion.
Hi @nordic, I often also have a next day spike after a hard workout and especially after a race effort. My drop off is usually the day after. I interpret this as my body is kicked into recovery mode even though the HRV interpretation could be that you are ready to rock. I have also had really low morning readings and by the time the afternoon rolls around I’m ready to crush a VO2 ride.
The benefit of HRV comes after using over time and paying attention to how you respond to workouts and how the HRV and morning HR corresponds. I’ve used HRT4Training for years and it helps me make changes in my training. For example, my HRV has been tracking nicely with my increase in fitness since I restarted my training after letting my average daily TSS drop to about 12/day back at the end of Oct 2018. Also when there have been jumps in fitness my morning HR has dropped as my average HRV has gone up. So on Thursday when I had a two hour endurance ride planned but my HRV was on the lower side , a bit in the yellow and my HR was up relative the past week, I cut the ride to a much shorter and easier one. I bounced back and on Saturday had a good ramp test with a +8% bump in my FTP. It takes time but you can use it as another data stream to help make better choices about your training.
Cheers.