You probably already know that yourApple Watchcan measure your heart rate, but did you know that it can also measure your heart rate variability, too? Your heart rate variability can be used to give you insights into your general fitness, as well as your stress levels.
A poor heart rate variability score may also indicate that you need to make some improvements to your health and fitness, such asgetting more sleepor drinking less caffeine. Here’s what you need to know about heart rate variability, and how to measure it on your Apple Watch.
What is heart rate variability?
Heart rate variability, or HRV, is a measure of the change in duration between one heartbeat and the next. If your heart were to beat at the exact same speed over and over, your HRV would be zero, but this isn’t how your heart works. The time between heartbeats is constantly changing; some gaps may be shorter, whilst others are longer. HRV measures how much your heart rate is varying over time; low HRV means the gaps between beats are fairly consistent, whereas a high score means the gaps are changing quite a lot.
What affects heart rate variability?
Your heart rate variability is affected by a number of factors. When you’re under stress, your stress hormones will increase cardiac output so that you’re prepared for fight or flight. This causes your HRV to decrease. When you’re relaxed, your heart rate slows and your HRV will increase. HRV can therefore be used to indicate when you’re under stress. Indeed, there are severalthird-party Apple Watch appsthat aim to monitor your stress levels by measuring your HRV.
However, there are other factors that can impact your HRV, including sleep quality, exercise, caffeine or alcohol, health conditions, medications, and even your diet. Your HRV will also tend to decrease as you age and is usually a little lower in women than in men.
For this reason, there’s no specific target HRV you should be aiming for; a ‘good’ HRV score will vary from person to person. However, if your HRV is significantly outside the typical range for your age and gender, then you may need to make some lifestyle changes to improve it.
How to measure your HRV on Apple Watch
YourApple Watchcan measure your HRV, although without using a third-party app, there’s no way to see your HRV directly on your Apple Watch itself. Instead, you’ll need to access the data that gets stored in the Health app on your iPhone.
What other devices can measure HRV?
If you don’t have an Apple Watch, there are plenty of other devices that can measure your heart rate variability. Other smartwatches, such as theGarmin Fenix 7orGoogle Pixel Watchare also capable of measuring your heart rate variability. HRV can also be measured using wearablechest straps andwristbands, such as theWHOOP 4.0. You can even measure your HRV with other types of wearables, such as anOura Ring.
