There are some days where I do feel occasionally tired but most of my days I'm fully charged. With that understanding. having this ability to know when to push to the next level or just coast to an easy workout is extremely important as an athlete, father or physician. I feel the heart rate variability rate (HRV) is an ideal noninvasive tool to test your progress, recovery or training intensity.

The HRV system is a new method to assess the level of stress on your body. Specifically, it measures the amount of gap between your heartbeats that varies as you breathe. So, if your heart rate is 60 beats per minute, it's not actually beating once every second. Within that minute there may be 0.9 seconds between two beats, for example, and 1.15 seconds between two others. Current research shows that a very high rate of HRV is a sign of health while a decreased HRV shows the effects of mental and physical stress, overtraining and fatigue on the body that changes the mechanics the nervous system has on heart rate. The HRV data is very valuable to the athlete as the amount of time in the interval between heartbeats is essential to show the progress not only in performance but also as overtraining may show in this interval and will decrease performance and optimized health will show a longer interval between beats.

HRV system is very easy to use, noninvasive and takes several days to get a baseline reading of your heart rate and from that point will create a normal to judge your HRV. Baseline HRV is calculated software algorithms, you will perform by taking these reading approximately the same time every day that takes approximate one minute. As you track your progress, you will see minor and major changes in your heart rate based upon the amount of activity, intensity, stress or poor sleeping habits that you may have. HRV overtime can show fluxuations in heart rate that alerts you of overtraining or changes in your health. This valuable information alerts you before the body is at a high level of stress or weakens to health changes and will monitor your progress or lack of before the nervous system becomes severely overtrained.

Thee are several HRV technology devices on the market today which include the iThlete, WHOOP, Polar, Iwatch, Ember and garmin devices to name a few with prices varying from low to high.  The HRV is noninvasive and affordable technology system that allows you to track your training and fitness status through a heart variable rate that improves performance and health while reducing overtraining, intensity of regular workouts and optimize your overall health, if you do not recover from those workouts you will reduce your performance, change physiology/adaption of the nervous system causing weakened immunity and poor health. HRV gives the athlete, worker or family member the ability to see how their body is reacting to not only stress, workouts and overall daily workload. The HVR is not only essential to assess your level of performance but how your body has adapted to a current level of stress and the need to change your sleep, lower training intensity and improve nutrition and hydration. The HRV system is an essential non invasive technology that gives you ability to improve his/her health and performance while monitoring the level of essential recovery requirements needed to maximize your health.