Heart Rate Variability?

[BPJ]

Hi Jordan,

I was wondering if you had an opinion about heart rate variability as a way to keep a eye out for overtraining. (I apologize if you've answered this recently, but all I came up with on google was a tweet you made pointing to an HRV roundtable on T-Nation in Sept 2012).


I read about the concept on Marks Daily Apple a few weeks ago, listened to a few podcasts on the subject, and it was intriguing enough to spend the $5 on an app that uses my Polar 7 monitor.

Based on the numbers it is giving me, it looks like I am horrifically over-trained (really low HF, really high HF,) but while I do feel pretty run down on the day after lifting, I'm still finishing my workouts. But maybe it is time to take a week off, or switch to HLM (I'm 48, and have been doing my linear progression for about 8 months now), or change something. If I hadn't recently had a physical showing my blood chemistry was good and my blood pressure was pretty low for a man of my years, I'd be really freaked out.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

I do think it can be useful for athletes and serious trainees to try and quantify their recovery or "readiness to train" on a given day. That said, I think HRV is going to end up being a component of a battery of other tests that can help quantify or otherwise predict someone's performance on a given day (see TRAC from Mike Tuscherer, for instance). At any rate, I don't think HRV is very sensitive or specific for predicting training outcomes on a given day. I do think if you over interpret the findings you might self sabotage your own training, on occasion. Just my opinion and if you find it helps ans is correct more often than not- good on ya!