HRV questions

[CheryG]

I'm going to start a thread because I'm sure I'll have more questions.

How long after a hard effort do you see a change inyour HRV?

I pushed it all week last week and everything felt fine. My training peaks score was telling me to cut back bit I was feeling good so I went with it.  Last night- bam, all of a sudden I felt whipped.  This morning my HRV score told me to cut back.   I think I might have been cruising on a bit of a high and then it finally all fell apart?  Interesting.

[diablita]

For me it varies, partially because the hard efforts vary. I generally see lower scores (skewing too high on the sympathetic side) when I'm in a bit of pain (or when the pain from soreness is coming).  I'm mildly sore from an upper body killer wod yesterday and my score was fine today. But I'll have DOMs tomorrow and I'm betting my morning score will be lower predictively.  I can report back.

Incidentally, DH also checks is HRV score and his was unusually awful yesterday morning. He wondered why because he hasn't been overdoing things. Then by evening felt a bad cold coming on.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

I don't track this and have only used an HR monitor for a few years.
But I do go by feel and after a hard week or big race won't go hard until I feel better. And on any given day, if it's not there I'll adjust or abandon the workout altogether and wait for a better day, usually a day or two later. 

[CheryG]

Ok, thanks diablita.  Plz check in again!
I did find this read, which pretty much parallels what I jist saw. Fingers crossed I'm not brewing a virus, again, but I do also feel not great- the usual post hard gym workout allergy thing I've got going on.

And coyote, yeah I get it that one normally takes a break when tired.  I'm just a bit surprised at this because tho I was pushing the mileage and workouts I didn't feel particularly tired.  Until all at once, lol.  Then all of a sudden I was super tored and HUNGRY.

I'm not sure I like the subjective scoring on the HRV4 app.  I don't think it's reliable to ask how I feel when Ive just woken up and haven't moved around yet.  Ask me again after I've run a mile, lol!  I need to try out their pro version I think.

[CheryG]

Forgot the link
https://help.elitehrv.com/article/78-is-a-higher-hrv-always-better

[diablita]

I'm always extra hungry on recovery day - makes sense since it takes energy to repair. And never on "under the weather day".

Coyote, for me the benefit of HRV is I get a gauge that tells me I need to take the rest before I notice the feeling myself. So recovery is quicker.  And as I get closer to 50 I need any help I can get to recover more quickly because I really prefer not to slow down.

[diablita]

Also, I really like this and hope it becomes a Perpetual-type thread

[radial]

I'm not sure I like the subjective scoring on the HRV4 app.  I don't think it's reliable to ask how I feel when Ive just woken up and haven't moved around yet.  Ask me again after I've run a mile, lol!  I need to try out their pro version I think.

Are your answers to those questions actually used by the app in scoring your readiness or are they just there to help you track factors that might be associated with lower/higher HRV?  The only app I'm familiar with is the Elite HRV app where I think the the subjective data is optional.  It's logged if you enter it, but not required and doesn't appear to figure into the calculations.  Your readiness score appears be derived exclusively from the data recorded by your heart rate measuring device.

[diablita]

Yeah I never answer that stuff on the Elite app. I do it very first thing and if you put smiley faces in front of me when I first wake up I'll want to punch them.

An interesting thing happened this morning when I went to take my Morning Readiness scan. The app seemed to have trouble connecting to their servers after it did the scan; it looked like it was "thinking". Finally I gave up and decided it was a rest day anyway and I didn't need it. Logged in a few minutes ago when I was posting here and I found I could resubmit the data it picked up from the sensor this morning.  And now I have my score.

[CheryG]

It does use the subjective scores in the daily score.  But, it wil differentiate when giving the final score, it will say something like ...the HRV portion was in your normal range but since your subjective scores were trending down you should consider a rest day.

I still want to see that objective number.