Is higher or lower HRV better?
Higher HRV is generally better. It indicates your heart can adapt flexibly to changing demands, which reflects better fitness, recovery, and stress resilience. Low HRV can signal fatigue, illness, or chronic stress, while unusually high HRV is typically a sign of strong recovery. However, "good" HRV varies enormously by age and individual. A 25-year-old athlete might average 60-80 ms RMSSD, while a healthy 55-year-old might sit at 25-35 ms. Check the normal HRV by age guide for reference ranges, but focus on your personal trend rather than absolute numbers. A rising 7-day average matters more than any single reading.
What Is HRV? (The Simple Version)
Your heart doesn't beat like a clock. There's natural variation between each heartbeat—sometimes 0.8 seconds between beats, sometimes 1.0 seconds, sometimes 0.9 seconds. This variation is called Heart Rate Variability (HRV).
Counterintuitive fact: More variation is generally better. A heart that can speed up and slow down flexibly is healthier than one stuck at a rigid pace. This flexibility is controlled by your autonomic nervous system—the same system that manages digestion, breathing, and your fight-or-flight response.
What HRV tells you: - How well your body is handling stress (physical, mental, and emotional) - How recovered you are from yesterday's workout, poor sleep, or a stressful day - Whether you're ready to push hard or need rest—this is why athletes and coaches use morning readiness checks - Over weeks and months, whether your training and lifestyle changes are actually working
How to Start Tracking
Simplest setup (free or cheap): - Use your Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, or Samsung Galaxy Watch if you have one - It's already tracking HRV, just find where to see it - Apps like Samsung Health, Fitbit Premium, or Garmin Connect show your HRV data - Don't buy anything until you're sure you want to track
More accurate setup (~$100): - Polar H10 chest strap ($90) - Elite HRV app (free) or ithlete - 2-minute morning reading
Apple Watch specific: - Athlytic: Whoop-like experience for Apple Watch - Gentler Streak: Gentle approach to fitness tracking
Premium passive tracking ($300+): - Oura Ring or Whoop - Automatic overnight tracking - No daily effort required
Making Sense of Your Numbers
Don't panic about your number: - "Normal" RMSSD ranges from 20ms to 100ms+ depending on person - Age, fitness, genetics, and sex all affect baseline - Your number isn't good or bad—it's just yours - Collect at least 2 weeks of data before drawing any conclusions
Simple interpretation: - Above your 7-day average → Good day to push harder in training - Within 10% of average → Normal day, proceed as planned - Below your average by 15%+ → Consider an easier day or active recovery - Way below average (20%+ drop) → Something's off—rest, hydrate, and check for common causes like poor sleep, alcohol, or oncoming illness
First-month tip: Your HRV will seem to jump around randomly at first. This is normal. After 3-4 weeks of consistent measurement, patterns emerge and the data becomes far more useful. Be patient and focus on building the daily habit before trying to optimize.
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