Utilizing Heart Rate Variability

The human body is extremely complex! Hopefully this comes as no surprise. Don’t get me wrong, we actually know quite a bit about it. However, there is still much to learn.

Example: Analysis of the Autonomic Nervous System

We know the brain is the master orchestrator, and from a top down approach, we can see that it has control of the autonomic nervous system and somatic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is broken into two parts, the sympathetic and parasympathetic. The relationship between the parasympathetic and sympathetic gets quite complex, so I will stop there.

Analyzing the ANS

In short, people typically analyze the ANS using heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a wonderful metric, but it’s merely a red flag marker, not a diagnostic tool.

HRV and the ANS can be affected by a multitude of subsystems. Right now, we are unable to pinpoint the area of disturbance with a single metric.

For example, everything from mindfulness, sickness, and stress to inflammation and gut dysfunction has been associated with HRV! So how the heck do we know what exactly is going on?? Well, the reality is we don’t! If blood paneling and more in-depth analysis are available, then you might have a shot, but HRV alone cannot do the trick.

When we see a low HRV, we naturally assume a training load issue and take a step back towards more “recovery.” However, HRV might be perturbed by the stress from a previous psychological event and a specific type of training might bring about a better response!

Now, this isn’t saying HRV is a useless metric, I am simply saying we are too quick to use it diagnostically. No metric a strength coach or sport scientist will collect is ever supposed to be completely diagnostic! They are red flag metrics  which raise an alarm that we need to act upon.

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