Heart Rate Variability (HRV) refers to the variation in time between each heartbeat. While your heart might beat around 60–100 times per minute, it’s not ticking like a metronome. Instead, there are micro-variations between beats, sometimes a beat is 0.9 seconds after the last one, other times it might be 1.1 seconds. These fluctuations are completely normal and are regulated by your autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls your body’s unconscious functions like breathing, digestion, and stress responses.

A high HRV generally indicates a more responsive and resilient nervous system, while a low HRV can be a sign of stress, fatigue, or poor recovery.

Why Should You Care About HRV?

HRV is one of the best non-invasive indicators of your body’s readiness to perform, physically and mentally. Whether you’re a weekend warrior, a competitive athlete, or just trying to stay on top of your health, HRV offers valuable insight into:

• Recovery status: After hard workouts or poor sleep, HRV typically drops.
• Stress levels: Chronic stress often leads to consistently low HRV.
• Sleep quality: Better sleep tends to support higher HRV.
• Training decisions: Many athletes use HRV to decide whether to push hard or take a recovery day.

Over time, tracking your HRV can help you notice patterns and make smarter choices around training, nutrition, sleep, and stress management.

How to Track HRV

HRV used to be something only elite athletes and medical professionals could measure, but now it’s easily accessible through smartphones and wearables. Here's how you can get started:

Smartphones (iOS & Android)

Apps like HRV4Training, Elite HRV, and Welltory use your phone’s camera and flash to measure HRV by analysing blood flow in your fingertip. It’s a quick and easy way to start, though not always as accurate as wearables.

Wearables

If you want a more consistent and passive way to track HRV, wearables are your best bet. Here are a few popular options:

• WHOOP: Tracks HRV overnight and offers personalised recovery insights.
• Oura Ring: Measures HRV while you sleep, with a focus on sleep and recovery.
• Apple Watch: Uses the Breathe app and Health app to log HRV data, primarily during periods of rest.
• Garmin: Offers HRV tracking through advanced metrics in many of their fitness watches.
• Fitbit: Some models now offer HRV tracking, mainly during sleep.

Most wearables sync with companion apps to display trends over time and help you understand your daily readiness.

Don't Compare Your HRV to Others

One of the most important things to remember when tracking HRV is that it's highly individual. What’s considered a “high” HRV for one person might be average, or even low, for someone else. Your baseline is shaped by factors like age, genetics, fitness level, and lifestyle habits.

So instead of comparing your numbers to your friends or internet averages, focus on your own trends over time. Are your numbers improving? Do they dip after poor sleep or a tough workout? That’s where the real value lies.

Think of HRV as a personal dashboard for how your body is coping and recovering, not a leaderboard.

Summary

HRV is a powerful metric that gives you a window into your body’s stress and recovery status. It’s not about chasing a perfect number—it's about understanding trends and learning how your body responds to different stressors. Whether you’re optimising your training, managing stress, or improving sleep, HRV can help you train smarter and live better.

With so many tools now available on both Android and iOS, there’s never been an easier time to start tuning into your body’s signals. Try tracking your HRV for a few weeks, you might be surprised what you learn.