@juansilva1 I have exactly the same set-up, apple watch 4 and auto sleep app. I might have picked the app advice on a previous post you made
For me if I’m well below baseline I will opt for zone 5+ workouts over steady state zone 4 intervals, they always seem easier to complete on days you feel like crap. Then you need to look at post nutrition and recovery to get you back on track because that zone 5 session will beat you down even more, maybe follow with a rest day/recovery ride.
Yesterday I had Bashful +2 which pushed me down to 27 this morning, baseline is 55. I had Galena +1 floating in the background which needed to be completed sometime soon and I had no notion of jumping on the trainer. Today the weather outside was abnormally pleasant for this time of year in the UK, sunny and 12 degrees centigrade. I jumped on the bike, went outside and hoofed my way through Galena, felt great doing it and felt even better afterwards. 2 hours post ride I’m sitting at 85, I’ll be interested to see what it is a.m when I take it normally. HRV scores isn’t everything, if you feel mentally ready then go for it.
I’m at the brink of dropping using HRV4T after few weeks. I have to say it measures something, but not my readiness for sure. Just a day before yesterday I’ve done a workout of IF 1.06 feeling quite well beaten next morning and HRV4T score (measured twice) was the highest ever measured meaning I am super ready to move mountains. Anyway, I took a complete day off and today it measured lower after the rest day. I feel good today actually. It makes no sense to me.
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.
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 am actually feeling pretty wiped recently, and am skipping todays ride until I feel a bit brighter. I don’t know if I’m slipping back into a low mood, or if it’s exercise-induced.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
/me throws trainer in the bin)
