heart rate variability, HRV4Training, and you!

a couple weeks ago i did a post on HRV4Training, which is a tool I use to track my own heart rate variability and it seems like people were pretty interested in what that was and how to use it. 

 so let's start with the basics: 

 what's heart rate variability??

basically, it is the variation of time between heartbeats. its measured by the variation in the beat to beat intervals. hrv is the seconds measured between the heart beats. 

just think, if your heart rate is at 60 bpm, your heart isn't beating every second on the dot, it's got variability between each beat, and that's what is being measured. 

so why does that matter

 HRV is a system triggered by our body in response that stressors in our life and body. 

 a higher HRV has been associated with a higher quality of life. and likewise, a low HRV is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. 

in a normal healthy person, your HRV should increase during relaxing activities/times. and when your body is under stress your HRV will decrease. 

(Important to note that your health is not CAUSED by your HRV, it's a correlation. It really brings to light the health and stress issues that are effecting your HRV)

And your HRV will pretty much definitely change every single day depending on a bunch of factors from your life. Did you sleep well? Did you train hard? Did you eat well? Have you been sick? Are you on your period? How fatigued and sore are you? All of this can and will effect your HRV. 

so monitoring where your HRV is at is helpful so you can know where your body is at. if you're monitoring your HRV, you're gonna be able to see actual evidence if your body is depleted, stressed, or overloaded and be able to make those adjustments accordingly so your training can be at the top of your abilities AND so your life is at a high quality. And you can know (with actual scientific evidence) that you need to take a break. 

  how do you track HRV? 

i use an app called HRV4TRAINING. an app for your phone. I haven't had any experience with other apps or their processes so I'm just gonna  talk about that app and how to use it. and I'm sure there's a way to do it without an app, but that's also not something I have experience with so I'm not gonna address it. Though my sources below may have some more information for you. 

 ANYWAY~ this app is great and very easy to use. First thing in the morning, before I even get out of bed, i measure my HRV. with this app you just put your finger over the front light bulb and it measures your heart rate & heart rate variability. you can go for 30-60 seconds and then it'll tell you if your reading was optimal along with what your HRV is. Then you fill out a bunch of tags, like rating your sleep, how much sleep you got, how intense your workout was the day before, what kind of workout you did the day  before, what motivation is at to train today, how sore you are, lifestyle stability, alcohol intake, etc. Then based on all of that, it'll tell you whether or not you should limit intensity, proceed as planned, or go hard that day. 

 And that, for me, is awesome. Because I have a tendency to over train and tracking my HRV has helped me have evidence that tells me that I need to take a break and recover and take care of myself. 

 the other thing HRV4TRAINING does that's cool is compiles all that data you input in. so you can get info on training load analysis, correlations, acute changes, trends, and summaries. Just a lot of information at your disposal. Because HRV is so variable and there's no single "good" or "bad" HRV it's nice to have all this data to know where you stand. 

so for me, HRV4TRAINING and measuring my Heart Rate Variability has been really great for my own training. 

there is A LOT of information out there and it can be pretty overwhelming. I read through a bunch of resources listed below so if you're wanting to read up more on HRV check out the links below. 

If you have any questions let me know! Send me a message over on my email at tiffnessfitness@gmail.com or my Instagram or Facebook page! Or leave a comment below! 

If you want to work on some fitness goals, drop me a line and we can get you going on a program, in person or online!  

sources: 

https://www.hrv4training.com/blog/interpreting-hrv-trends

https://www.hrv4training.com/blog/heart-rate-variability-normal-values

https://www.hrv4training.com/blog/heart-rate-variability-a-primer

https://medium.com/@marco_alt/on-heart-rate-variability-and-the-apple-watch-24f50e8e7bc0

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/heart-rate-variability-new-way-track-well-2017112212789

https://blog.ouraring.com/blog/heart-rate-variability-basics/

https://www.firstbeat.com/en/blog/what-is-heart-rate-variability-hrv/

on listening to your body & recovery

I've spoken previously on motivation and determination here, and I definitely feel the same. it's important to recognize that even on days when you are feeling lazy you should keep moving. and yes, pushing yourself is very important to get stronger and progress.

but along with that, it's important to listen to your body and what you actually NEED to do. this is something that I've struggled with. something I've struggled with throughout my entire workout journey, to be frank.

over the past few months, I have changed up my routine A LOT. new job, long commutes, training for multiple events, engagement, wedding planning, looking for an apartment, and it's been EXHAUSTING.

so with that, I have noticed that my training has been WAY harder. and, yes, I am pushing myself and working with new weights and pushing my pace, but I am tired ALL OF THE TIME. And that's not normal! 

I had noticed a lot of changes in my mood and appetite and motivation and in how my training was going. (So many hand tears) 

So I knew that I needed to take a break. Looking back over the past year, I hadn't taken a real break (rest for more than a day or two) in, well, almost a year. (Right around my move down to San Diego) which was not including the time in December when I was basically vomiting the entire month due to every type of illness I could manage to get (likely because I was exhausted and my immune system was compromised). 

I made the decision that after my June competition that I would take about a week off. So after my snatch set, I took the whole week off from any real lifting. Which was not easy for me; 1) because I work in fitness so I'm surrounded with people working out all day 2) I do really enjoy exercise 3) it's part of my routine and I am a creature of habit. 

 And what did I do on my rest week? 

Not a lot. Sometimes a walk. Sometimes some yoga. Sometimes a little bit of mace swinging. By the end of the week I was doing some fun flows with the kettlebell at light weights. And that's it. I didn't do anything crazy and recovered all week. 

I also didn't change up my eating habits. I ate basically the same things as I usually do as far as I could tell. 

I checked my Heart Rate Variance on an app (HRV4Training) to see where it thought I was in my recovery as well. Just to have some unbiased science in on my recovery, too. 

And by the end of the week I had more energy, my moods were in a better space, my appetite had gotten more normal.  

I just felt much better. My training all last week was back to regular strength, I haven't been waking up tired. It's been awesome. 

If you are noticing that your training is taking a hit, if you're tired all the time, if you're just wholly unmotivated for weeks at a time, if you're moody and just feeling off ~ it may be time for a break

I know there's fear of stopping when you're in a routine, but i promise it does you more good than continuing to train while you're burnt out. Take the few days off and let your body recover fully so you can actually enjoy your training. It's well worth it. 

on attitude

right up front, i'm gonna be honest. this may very well turn into a word vomit. i would apologize, but it's my blog so i can do what i want, and sometimes that means i get to just throw up a bunch words onto a screen and the very few of you who read it just have to deal with it. 

i recognize that i am a kind of special case when i come to fitness. i love it. i genuinely enjoy working out and pushing my limits and breaking PRs and just all of it. 

most of the time. 

but the issue i see pretty regularly with people is that they say that they don't like ANY exercise EVER. all of it is terrible and boring and hard and they just don't want to do any of it. 

and let me tell you, that's the problem RIGHT THERE. 

if you go into every workout with that attitude then OF COURSE it's going to suck. you can't expect to go into a workout with thoughts of "this sucks, this sucks, i hate this so much" on repeat in your head and expect any sort of movement is going to feel good. 

there are SO MANY different ways to move and to add exercise into your life and you're telling me that LITERALLY every single one is the worst thing you've ever encountered in your life? sorry, i'm calling bullshit. 

did you actually TRY to enjoy the workout? or did you show up and complain about it the whole time? 

and what have you tried? did you just try running one day and say well that was hard, i'm not doing that shit again? or go into a gym and go down the row of weight machines and were bored AF and never went back? did one class at that studio and it was really challenging so you just stopped going after a couple classes? 

there are SO MANY ways to move and to add exercise into your life. you don't have to just do the regular gym thing lots of people picture when they think of "fitness." 

but the thing is, you cannot go into every single workout session with an attitude of "omg this is gonna suck" because that will make literally everything you try suck. 

self-talk is a huge part of fitness and if you are being negative the entire time, you are gonna feel terrible & not want to come back and do it again because ALL of the feeling you have with it are all these unhappy and gross feelings. 

you're setting yourself up for failure if you are constantly going into with a negative attitude. 

even on days that you don't want to do it, just go have a good attitude for like 15 mins and do a warmup and if you feel terrible after that... stop. but 90% of the time if you go into it with a decent attitude after the first 10 mins you'll want to keep going! and if you don't... you gave it a solid try and that's okay cause some days you do need the break. 

the main thing to take away from this all is to have a good attitude about your workouts. if you're gonna look at exercise like a punishment it will always feel like a punishment. 

&i cannot tell you how much adjusting my attitude has changed my training. 

even on days where i have sets that are going to be objectively hard and in the past I have just been D R E A D I N G it and guess what... THEY SUCKED. they were hard and it felt terrible and i didn't hit goals that i had set for myself. and a few weeks ago i had a break through. i was NOT looking forward to a set, but before it i was like, "WELL, i have to do this anyway, so I may as well have fun with it all" so i had a goofy ass warmup and danced around a lot and listened to bangin' music and when it came time for my set i was pretty pumped! and then i crushed it! and that's been the theme since that set. like, if i go in with a good attitude the workout feels SO MUCH better and I DO so much better. 

just think ~ you're working out for YOU. exercise is an experience for yourself. you're doing it feel good for you. not anyone else. and if the type of exercise you're doing doesn't feel good - don't do that anymore! like i said before, there are so many ways to move... you just gotta go in with an open mind & you'll find what you love to do too! 

if you need help or some guidance in finding the way you want to exercise drop me a line on Instagram or Facebook or send me an email at tiffnessfitness@gmail.com . And if you want to work together check out my Programs page or just shoot me a message and we can make something that works for you! Movement is good for you & you deserve to find the way you like to move!