Hi Marco! So grateful for all your research! In this latest, you talk a lot about lower HRV due to training. How would you suggest an acutely higher HRV should be regarded?
in general, an abnormally high HRV is more difficult to interpret, meaning that a low HRV is always a signal for stress, while a particularly high HRV can be fine, but can also indicate an issue (as reported in the example of the blog linked above). In my view, in certain situations the data alone cannot tell the whole story, and we need to add context and our subjective feel to make the call - it cannot simply be automated, another reason not to trust too much wearable technology :)
I think this is an interesting one, as the heat could cause blood plasma volume expansion, and from there, higher stroke volume, lower heart rate, and higher HRV. There is good evidence behind the relationship between plasma volume and HRV due to this mechanism, so if the heat triggers increased plasma volume (and it should) it might explain part of the change. I do think that if the heat is too much of a stressor, we’ll see a change in the opposite direction, but if we deal with it well, then we might even see an increase due to the mechanism above.
Hi Marco! So grateful for all your research! In this latest, you talk a lot about lower HRV due to training. How would you suggest an acutely higher HRV should be regarded?
Thanks!
thanks Jane!
Please see here for a discussion of acutely high HRV: https://marcoaltini.substack.com/p/abnormally-high-heart-rate-variability (and also here on similar aspects: https://marcoaltini.substack.com/p/higher-hrv-is-it-always-better)
in general, an abnormally high HRV is more difficult to interpret, meaning that a low HRV is always a signal for stress, while a particularly high HRV can be fine, but can also indicate an issue (as reported in the example of the blog linked above). In my view, in certain situations the data alone cannot tell the whole story, and we need to add context and our subjective feel to make the call - it cannot simply be automated, another reason not to trust too much wearable technology :)
100%makes sense. Intense training day AND sauna - abnormally elevated HRV. Supercompensation, or nice recovery due to sauna🤔
I think this is an interesting one, as the heat could cause blood plasma volume expansion, and from there, higher stroke volume, lower heart rate, and higher HRV. There is good evidence behind the relationship between plasma volume and HRV due to this mechanism, so if the heat triggers increased plasma volume (and it should) it might explain part of the change. I do think that if the heat is too much of a stressor, we’ll see a change in the opposite direction, but if we deal with it well, then we might even see an increase due to the mechanism above.
So cool!
I love unwinding science in actual reality.
Thanks for your time! 🙏🏼💙