Heart Rate Variability (HRV): A Guide to Improving Recovery and Heart Health

If you have an apple watch take a look at your HRV

What is HRV and Why Does it Matter?

HRV reflects the balance between your parasympathetic (rest and digest) and sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous systems. It measures the variation in time between heartbeats and provides insight into how well your body is handling stress, recovery, and overall cardiovascular health. Higher HRV generally indicates good heart health and recovery capacity, while a lower HRV can signal stress, fatigue, or overtraining.

Remember that HRV is highly individualized. HRV is a key metric for determining recovery and heart strength, influenced by stress responses just as much as by how hard we can push in the gym or how fast we can run a mile. Tracking HRV over time can help you make data-driven decisions to optimize your training and recovery. These suggestions are based on my experience tracking my own HRV.