Using it as a tool to inform your fitness routine, HRV can help identify how well you’re tolerating your overall load, offering insight into intensity, recovery, and stress management. But it’s important not to give it too much weight; instead, it should just be one part of the equation when it comes to determining your body’s readiness to perform.
“HRV should complement training decisions, not lead them,” says Davidson. You want to consider it alongside objective performance markers like power, speed, and strength, and subjective measures like perceived exertion, muscle soreness, and motivation. Taken together, this can help you create a full picture of your training response and readiness, says Davidson.
Additionally, HRV is most useful when you look at how it trends over time versus focusing on change over the course of a single day. Long-term tracking is what can reveal chronic problems, Alex Rothstein, EdD, CSCS, coordinator and professor for the exercise science program at New York Institute of Technology, tells SELF.
Think about it this way: If you are generally well rested but then get one bad night of sleep, your HRV will likely be all over the place—but chances are you’ll still be able to play a great game of tennis the next day with your friend, Dr. Rothstein explains. It would really come down to how you felt, rather than what your HRV suggested.
That’s why you shouldn’t obsess over short-term changes to your HRV. In fact, day-to-day variability is totally normal. Experiencing a low one after a killer workout, for example, could simply be indicative of training stress. And it’s this challenge on the body that drives strength, cardio, and endurance gains, says Davidson.
What can you do to improve your HRV?
Genetics can dictate whether your HRV naturally tends to be on the higher or lower end, but positive lifestyle choices, including sleep habits, stress levels, and alcohol consumption, can “improve HRV regardless of your genetic starting point,” Dr. Brown says.