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/

6+ months of intuitive eating

so ~ starting in January I began intuitive eating and a month later i wrote a post about my struggles and successes with intuitive eating, but since I have been going for almost 7 full months now, I figured it was time for a follow up post. 

Struggles:  

 There have been MANY days where I've looked down at my stomach and been not pleased with myself. Especially because Facebook and Google like to remind me that I was 10-15 lbs lighter a year ago. 

I have thought about restarting dieting multiple times throughout this process because I know I could do it and diet my way back to the weight I was previously. 

but that's not the point of intuitive eating, it's supposed to be food freedom, not a weight loss gimmick. which is definitely a shift in reasoning from how I was eating before and it's something I'm working on changing my brain around on regularly. 

Honestly, most of my struggles with intuitive eating has been with my own body image and weight . Which is an ongoing struggle, and I don't think it's gonna be fixed in 6 months. And even when I'm doing well with this all the time, there will still be bad days. Body image isn't something that's fixed overnight. But I do think that I am starting to have slightly more good days than bad days. Which is something.

Successes:

Most of my experience with intuitive eating has been good though! i have really enjoyed the freedom around food that I've had. And to be frank, my eating didn't drastically change. I eat a lot of the same foods because I like those foods. 

But, i have also added more into my diet! I have tried new marinades, I've baked more, I will have hella carbs and not stress about it, and I enjoy eating foods that I used to feel guilty about. 

I know I'm eating more than I was a year ago, but I feel like I'm fueling my body better.  

I am SO much stronger than I was a couple years ago or a year ago or even 6 months ago. And that's largely due to my strength programming but I know a contributing factor is the fact that I'm not in a caloric deficit so I'm able to build muscle.  

And its really nice not too feel guilty around food. Some days that's not the case, but most days I can eat the foods that make me feel good even it has carbs or sugar or chocolate or fat or whatever.

Beyond the food things, I know I mentioned the weight gain but it hasn't been a huge gain. It does feel like it was a lot, but when I started onto this whole intuitive eating thing I was coming off an entire month of illness so I was at a lower weight than I had typically been, so it's about 8-9 lbs since then but probably only 3-4 lbs realistically. And I don't think I've gained much of anything over the past few months (though I haven't been weighing myself regularly to be sure). 

 Another great success I've had has been with figuring out my hunger a lot better. I'm slowly getting more comfortable with eating when I'm hungry and then actually stopping before I'm so stuffed I feel terrible and just stopping when I'm satisfied. 

So a lot of positive things coming from from intuitive eating, and honestly it gets better as I get more practice with it. 

honestly, if you're interested in trying out intuitive eating I would give it a shot. It's been a process and it's not easy but the benefits of intuitive eating are many and learning how to really fuel your body in the way your body wants & needs to be fueled. If you have questions and/ or need support feel free to reach out to me at my Facebook page, Instagram, or in the comments below! 

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.