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/

my first half marathon!

my first half marathon... and my very first race! yeah, i went for it straight out the gate. 

i signed up for a half marathon because i had been running a lot, and running further and further with no real goals... just running to run. which was a lot of fun, but having something to work to is more fun! so i was looking into races and i saw an ad for the Title 9 Mermaid Run. And it was on sale. And it was months out. So why not!? so i signed up for it! 

here's how i trained for it: 

i signed up for it at the beginning of November. At that point I had gotten up to about 9.5 miles. So from that point, my plan was to increase my mileage by about 10% each week. And throughout November I kept up with that, mostly. I was running just over 10 miles by the beginning of December. 

But December was a rough month. I was sick on and off throughout the entire month which really threw off my training schedule for the race. By the end of December, I still hadn't broke 10 miles. It was a tough month of training. 

So come January, I had to fit in A LOT of runs that I was planning on spreading out a lot further apart.January had my first 11 mile run, the next week was 12 mile run, then the 13.1 mile run, which put me 3 weeks out from the race. Let me tell you, those runs were not fun. It was a lot, and it was really tough on my body and honestly, it wasn't a lot of recovery time so my body was exhausted AF. My first half marathon run through was at a 2:13:36 and most of it felt pretty terrible. All of run times had gotten much slower than they had been in November, which was pretty frustrating, but i figured just finishing the half marathon race would be success enough. 

But I did make myself have a goal of a sub- 2 hour half marathon. which meant cutting off 13 and a half minutes off my first run through.

I figured I could definitely beat the original time because my outside training load would be significantly lighter than it was during the other weeks, but cutting 13 mins off was a long shot. i had to cut off over a minute each mile for it to be possible. 

the weeks leading up to the race i tapered off my runs. 10 miles 3 weeks out, 8 miles 2 weeks out, and not much the week of. 

the week of the race, Monday was fairly average workout wise and after that everything was really, really light. the farthest i ran the week of the race was 3 miles. and i did only one HIIT run session for 25 mins, and that was on Wednesday (my last real workout [minus kettlebell sport] of the week). I rested Thursday (minus KB sport) and Friday. 

Then on Saturday it was race day!

the days leading up to the race I was drinking over 150 oz of water every day. 

the day before the race, i ate a lot of fruits and easy tasty carbs. all of the foods I knew my body could process easily so i wouldn't feel terrible while running. so dinner was hashbrowns, canadian bacon, and eggs. 

Race day: 

woke up early AF, drank a cup of coffee, and headed out to the race site! on the way i snacked on welch's fruit snacks, which is basically the only thing i eat before/during runs. 

got there and sipped on water and had a really nice extended warm up. i was ready to go pretty early on so I had to keep on moving to keep warm. 

FINALLY the race started and once i got going, i basically kept the same pace throughout the entire race. it was suuuper convenient because there was race pacers. basically holding signs saying what the pace they were going for were at. i ended up chilling with the 2:00 hour pace guy for about 85% of the race. after mile 10 or so i broke off and went a little further ahead and tried to push my pace just a little bit. 

tbh, i don't think really hit a full on wall during the race, but i did definitely feel my knees and ankles getting progressively more ache-y. 

anyway, the last couple of miles i was just focused on one foot in front of the other and the third best moment was seeing that 12 mile marker, second best was the 13 mile marker, and obviously the best moment of the race was finishing it! and finishing it under 2 hours!!! (the timer said the 1:58:54 and the chip timer clocked me in at 1:58:47!) 

as soon as i finished it i got water and basically collapsed on the ground chugging water. my knees and ankles were shot. it was rough. but i was outrageously proud of myself. and once i had a minute of sitting colt and i walked around so my muscles didn't get too tight. 

the worst part was the MILE long walk back to the parking lot that had my car. that was tough. my legs were not having it. 

but overall...  it was a really great time. the race was better than any of my runs that i had done in training and i was able to maintain a really great speed throughout. and i will definitely do another race in the future... but probably not a half marathon again. not for a while at least. my body took a beating during this training cycle. and the recovery time was honestly longer than i would like it to be, especially because i am training for more than one event. plus it would be fun to push my pace on a shorter distance. and then it would also save A LOT of time to do shorter runs cause training for long distance races just takes long time. :) 

also, shout out to Title 9 & Mermaid Series for putting on a great race. Now, I don't have anything to compare to, but everything went super smoothly and started right on time and the route was super easy to follow and it was really great. definitely had zero stress on the part of the actual race day because of it. so much appreciation to them! cause let's be real, i can find a whole lot to be anxious about, so it was a miracle and a half that i didn't have any of that on race day (minus just general pre-competition jitters)

so there's my thoughts on my first race. definitely not my last race. but man do i need some time to rest up from this one. my legs, hips, knees, and ankles are definitely still really, really tight from the race and i think it'll end up being a few days before i'm back at 100% but i am really, really proud of myself for doing this race and for hitting my goals! 

also, shout out to Title 9 & Mermaid Series for putting on a great race. Now, I don't have anything to compare to, but everything went super smoothly and started right on time and the route was super easy to follow and it was really great. definitely had zero stress on the part of the actual race day because of it. so much appreciation to them! cause let's be real, i can find a whole lot to be anxious about, so it was a miracle and a half that i didn't have any of that on race day (minus just general pre-competition jitters)

if you're looking to train for a race or for anything else... contact me so we can work on a program for you! check out my instagram or my facebook or just drop me an email! 

if you have any questions about my training or anything else... just leave a comment! :) 

Tiff's Tips: Create a Fitness Community

getting fit is not easy. changing your routine and your lifestyle and making time for things you don't necessarily enjoy or want to do everyday.

so how do you keep going on the days that are tough? 

by creating a fitness community for yourself!

now what is a fitness community?? 

a fitness community is simply a support system for your health and fitness goals. 

you can create this a few different ways!

1. first (and most obvious) way is with your family and friends! get them in on your fitness! have them workout with you. or even just remind you to get up and go to the gym. or get healthy recipes to share. or you can create fitness challenges between your friends and fam so you can all feel a bit healthier. maybe you can go on walks on your lunch breaks with your co-workers! the possibilities are endless. 

2. go to workout classes at your local gym and create your own in-person fitness community! people who go to workout classes are some of the most consistent gym-goers! if you start going to classes regularly you will definitely start recognizing people and make friends and they'll notice if you start skipping classes regularly! 

3. get a trainer! they'll keep you accountable AND will tell you what to do when you go to the gym so you have no excuse to not get it done. they will support you and make sure you are going to hit the goals you set for yourself. (btw, hiii! i have in person & online training available!) 

4. fitness app communities! there are about fifty trillion different fitness apps out there right now, and with that, SO many people on them and that means that there are SO MANY people you can connect with. FitBit has challenge boards, Nike Run Club allows you to get people to cheer for you while you run, MyFitnessPal has forums to meet people. Just to name a few, because there are honestly too many apps for me to even keep track of. Find the one(s) you like and make friends on it, so you have an awesome virtual support system. 

5. facaebook group communities! just like apps there are even more facebook groups. if there is something you like on the internet, there's probably a subgroup of those people who are also exercising. seriously, check in those groups if there is a fitness based subgroup or just search for it. you already have one common interest, might as well add fitness into the mix! 

6. instagram communities! instagram has become my favorite for my fitness community. just by searching through a hashtag you can find so many people who are interested in the same kind of fitness you are. instagram has an AMAZING fitness community and you can find so many people going through the same thing you are. and instagram is great to use as a log for your gym days and/or for your food. it's a great tool to use! 

so there ya have it. 

having some people from ALL these groups is definitely ideal, but sometimes that's just not reality for all of us, so even if you can't get your friends and family to get involved in your health and fitness lifestyle changes you can find people all over the place to help you be as successful as possible!

want more support? contact me on my instagram or facebook or email me at tiffnessfitness@gmail.com to find out about getting in on a personalized training program!