…what it is and why higher variability is considered good. TY!
In: 3
Lets imagine your heart rate is exactly 60 beats per minute, that is 1 beat per second. Except it’s not beating exactly once per second, it could be 1.1 seconds and then .9 seconds in between beats, then 1.15 etc. That is the variability.
Your body has a system to control the involuntary aspects of your physiology, there are 2 branches in this system, they are….
Rest and Digest
Fight or Flight
Both branches are sending signals to you heart at the same time. One system says beat faster and the other beat slower, this “competition” leads to a variability in your hear rate. A higher variability means your body is balanced and ready to engage either system when needed most. A lower HRV means one system is dominating. This isn’t always bad, if you ran a marathon yesterday you will have a low HRV since your body is in recovery mode.
[This explains things better and while not ELI5 it does a pretty good job.](https://www.whoop.com/thelocker/heart-rate-variability-hrv/)
HRV like heart rate is highly individualized so don’t get hung up on numbers that a certain person/athlete has and try to get there.
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