Heart Rate Variability, also referred to as HRV, is a measurement of the time intervals between every single heartbeat. Many people believes that a healthy heart beat with a steady and predictable rhythm, but a healthy heart actualy exhibit constant variation in the timing of its beat. This variation in timing is known as Heart Rate Variability.
Heart Rate Variability is an indicator of the state of you autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for managing the transition between the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. A high Heart Rate Variability indicate that your autonomic nervous system is balance, and a high Heart Rate Variability indicates that your autonomic nervous system can switch efficient between the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
What is Heart Rate Variability and How to Improve It
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You cannot judge Heart Rate Variability by looking at a single number in isolation, because everyone have a different baseline for Heart Rate Variability. A person who is an elite athlete may have a higher Heart Rate Variability than a person who is sedentary, but this is because an athlete have superior cardiovascular conditioning. Additionally, age affects Heart Rate Variability because physiological flexibility tend to decrease as a person gets older.
Therefore, you must compare your current Heart Rate Variability to your own personal baseline rather than comparing your Heart Rate Variability to the Heart Rate Variability of other peoples. A drop in your Heart Rate Variability often serve as an early signal from your body that you are experiencing stress, fatigue, or illness. Many people mistake a low Heart Rate Variability for being out of shape, but the body often causes a low Heart Rate Variability by recover from stress or fighting an illness.
You should focus on the trend in your Heart Rate Variability rather than single daily reading. For example, if your Heart Rate Variability is usually high and your Heart Rate Variability suddenly become low, your body is signaling that you need to rest. Thus, observing the trends in your Heart Rate Variability help you understand when your body require more recovery.
Many different factor can cause fluctuations in your Heart Rate Variability. Sleep is a primary factor that influence Heart Rate Variability, and a lack of sleep will cause your Heart Rate Variability to decrease. Alcohol consumption is another factor that lower Heart Rate Variability, and alcohol can suppress your recovery for a long period.
Dehydration and eating late at night are also factor that can disrupt the balance of your autonomic nervous system and lower your Heart Rate Variability. Because many factor influence Heart Rate Variability, you must manage these factor to maintain a stable Heart Rate Variability. You can improve your Heart Rate Variability by focusing on recovery method.
You can improve your Heart Rate Variability by prioritizing consistent sleep cycles, and you can improve your Heart Rate Variability by practicing intentional, slow breathing exercise. These breathing exercises help your body return to a state of rest more efficient. Some people use cold exposure to improve their Heart Rate Variability because cold exposure can stimulate the vagal tone.
Vagal tone is the biological mechanism that allow for higher Heart Rate Variability. Finally, tracking your Heart Rate Variability is a method for increasing your self awareness so that you can decide when to push your body and when to allow your body to rest.
