Can Tracking Heart Rate Variability Improve Your Health?

Editor’s Note: With a bevy of stressors, every CEO knows—and fears—the truth about this job. It can be a killer. That’s led Chief Executive to team with the renowned faculty at Mayo Clinic Executive Health to help you rethink some of the most important—and too-often overlooked—aspects of maintaining good health as CEO. We’ve collected the articles in a growing library. We hope you find this initiative useful.

The following article is by Pauline H. Lucas, P.T., D.P.T., WCS, Mayo Clinic 

— Dan Bigman, editor

Five years ago, I participated in a 300-day “Optimal Living” coaching program. My goal was to train as an Optimal Living Coach starting with optimizing my own health and wellness by integrating various lifestyle principles. In the program, we measured our progress through objective changes in several health metrics. And we were encouraged to have a wearable fitness tracker to track personal activity level, sleep and something called heart rate variability, also known as HRV.

As a healthcare professional, I was familiar with most of these metrics but had limited knowledge of the significance of HRV. After researching the topic, I became fascinated by how paying attention to HRV values can be a helpful tool to learn about your body’s resilience level. Additionally, you can learn how your lifestyle affects your stress level. And you may be able to identify early signs of health challenges.

What is heart rate variability?

Even when your heart appears to beat regularly, there is a very slight variation (measured in microseconds) between each heartbeat. This is called heart rate variability, also known as HRV. Around 1970, specialized medical equipment capable of measuring HRV became available. Although this original equipment is still the gold standard, personal wearable fitness devices have been developed in the past decade that do a good job measuring HRV.

How does HRV work?

To understand HRV, you need to know a little about the nervous system. The autonomic nervous system governs the bodily functions that are outside of conscious control, like heart rate, blood pressure and digestive system function. The autonomic nervous system consists of two networks: the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system, also referred to as the rest-and-digest system, is dominant when a person is relaxed. The sympathetic nervous system, also referred to as the fight-or-flight system, works harder when a person is under stress, either mentally or physically.

HRV marks the balance between these systems. A higher HRV signifies better balance, where the body is able to bounce back more quickly from any stressors. HRV has been called “the body’s stress signal.” A lower HRV typically means you are under greater stress and less resilient.

What is a good HRV?

Unlike blood pressure or heart rate, which have standard best values, HRV is a more individualized metric. Factors affecting HRV values include genetics, age, hormones, emotional state and illness. Although you might find some graphs online of average and optimal HRV values, experts warn against comparing your HRV with the HRV of others. Instead, it’s best to become familiar with your unique HRV, including daily fluctuations over time, and when more unusual values occur. A sudden prolonged drop in HRV can be a sign that the body is dealing with excessive stress or oncoming illness.

How can you increase heart rate variability?

As a rule of thumb, a higher HRV is a sign of better health, greater resilience and good stress recovery. There are many lifestyle habits that can support stress recovery. These include sufficient and good quality sleep; stress management, for example, through meditation, breathing exercises or yoga; regular exercise; eating healthy foods; staying hydrated; and limiting caffeine and alcohol consumption.

How to take advantage of HRV tracking

When I started tracking it, my HRV averaged around 35. Then I started experimenting with some health habit changes. A combination of eating dinner earlier, optimizing my bedtime routine, skipping a glass of wine before dinner and changing my exercise approach helped raise my HRV to the mid-40s. Instead of obsessing about those numbers, I cultivated an experimental mindset: I used the pattern of my HRV numbers to identify how lifestyle changes affected me. At the same time, I paid close attention to how the numbers correlated to my energy level and overall sense of well-being.

I also learned how a sudden reduction in HRV can predict a health change. Several months after I raised my numbers, they suddenly dropped to the teens. A few days later, I discovered I had COVID. To navigate my recovery, I used my daily HRV numbers, along with body temperature, heart rate and how I felt (of course!). I used my HRV to guide my decisions of when to gradually increase my activity versus when to focus more on sleep, meditation and rest.

When my HRV crashed again after major surgery the following year, it reminded me just how stressful surgery is on the body and that I needed time to fully recover. It caused me to again go slow for several weeks, taking more time to integrate restful and nurturing activities, like sleep, meditation, reading and walking at a leisurely pace, before resuming my regular active lifestyle. Prior to having access to the objective numbers, I would have likely tried to push myself harder and sooner, thinking perhaps that I was just being wimpy.

Having worked with objective numbers like HRV these past few years, I have come to appreciate the benefits of this form of biofeedback. Having access to metrics like HRV, in addition to tuning in to how you feel, can be incredibly helpful in becoming more attuned with the body’s stress level. Getting objective feedback on how lifestyle and stress management techniques affect stress recovery can be a powerful motivator to choose healthy habits and to respect the signals your body gives you.

How to start tracking HRV

To start tracking your HRV, look into wearable fitness trackers that are available from companies such as Oura, Fitbit, Apple, Garmin or Whoop. Consider which device will be more comfortable for you to wear—one of the reasons I chose a smart ring—along with the cost of the device and whether you need a subscription to an app. Once you start tracking, I suggest getting your baseline data over the first several weeks. Pay attention to how the numbers vary based on your activity level, sleep habits, alcohol or caffeine intake, for example. After that you can experiment with modifying one or more of these habits and track the changes in your HRV values.