What Is Heart Rate Variability?
As Heart Rate Variability goes mainstream most people really don't know what it is! If you picture an EKG you see the spikes that happen when the heart beats. Now if your heart beats at 60 Beats Per Minute (BPM) you would expect the time between heart beats (time between the spikes in an EKG) to be 1 second long. Actually, the time between the beats vary, so for a heart rate of 60 BPM the time between beats may be 0.92 s, 0.98s, 1.02s, 1.08s etc. These values average out to 1 second intervals or 60 BPM. This natural variation of time between heartbeats is called Heart Rate Variability!
What Does HRV Tell Me?
- Once the time between hearbeats is collected for at least 3 minutes, they are run through a bunch of math! The results of this mathematical analysis has been clinically studied for decades. What scientists found was that HRV is a view into your nervous system and thus is a measure of Vagal Tone, Stress, Sleep Quality and Athletic Recovery to name a few.
- The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is the main reason the time between heartbeats vary. The ANS has 2 branches, the Sympathetic or “Fight or Flight”branch,which speeds the heart up, and the Parasumpathetic or “Rest and Digest” branch which slows the heart down. These 2 branches work together, speeding and slowing the heart rate, to keep you flowing through life.
Stress Measurement
So many people are stuck in chronic Fight or Flight mode and don't even know it! When your Sympathetic Nervous System is dominant even at rest, the entire body suffers as cortisol and other hormones are stuck on and wreak havoc on your body. The first step in preventing adrenal fatigue is to measure your stress levels. You can do continuous real-time stress measurements or 3 minute spot checks using SweetBeatHRV
Vagal Tone
Vagal Tone is being talked about in Yoga Classes, Bio-Hacking communities and Meditation courses though many don't really know what it is or how to measure it. Strong Vagal Tone is equivalent to a strong Parasympathetic Nervous System and is indicative of one's ability to put the brakes on Stress. It is displayed as your HRV score and is measured on a scale of 0-100 using SweetBeatHRV and DailyBeatHRV
Sleep/Morning Readiness
Sleep tracking is all the rage! And while seeing your sleep stage data is cool, it doesn't tell you if you had restorative sleep. During a good night sleep, your nervous system improves power and balance and gets you ready for your day. If you did not get restorative sleep, your nervous system reflects that. Measure how restorative your sleep was and your daily and athletic readiness with SweetBeatHRV and DailyBeatHRV