Using heart-rate variability in your training

[sbhikes]

I learned about heart-rate variability yesterday on Mark's Daily Apple. Apparently the variability in the rhythm of your heart beat can tell you whether you are recovered from training or not, among other things. It sounds like it could be interesting to monitor your HRV along with how well you performed in your workouts to see if those unexplainable days when your work-out was shit corresponded with signs you perhaps were not sufficiently recovered. There are a few apps that help you do the monitoring, iThlete and Bioforce are two of them.

Has anyone used HRV monitoring at all?

[Viola]

Back when I ran, I used my heart rate monitor for running, and first thing in the morning for a resting heart rate. When I was underrecovered, or sick, my resting heart rate was higher. But I could also tell that by climbing a set of stairs and getting winded when I shouldn't.

[sbhikes]

Heart rate variability is different from heart rate. It's the variability within the rhythm itself. Apparently if your heart rhythm is very variable, that is a good thing, but if it is very even, it's a sign of stress, poor health, overtraining or a few other things.

[John Hanley]

Yeah. Ditched it after 2 weeks.