Heart Rate Variability: How To Use HRV To Optimize Training And Recovery

Heart Rate Variability can optimize training, race readiness, and overall well-being.

A high HRV indicates greater heart rate responsiveness. It's the ability to quickly increase one’s heart rate for intense training sessions and bring it back down to allow our automatic recovery systems to take over. 

Training is a type of stress that challenges our bodies to translate it into gains. See graphic below that shows how this affects our HRV. Photo credit: Morpheus System

There are other stresses in our lives, too, such as day-to-day work and life challenges. They all must be managed to achieve optimal health and fitness, and HRV tracking can help us with that.

How HRV Works In Practice  

Our nervous system consists of a voluntary and an involuntary system. The voluntary system controls the activities we can see, such as running or any other movement. 

The involuntary system (known as the autonomic system) controls what people cannot see, the activities that need to be automated to ensure our survival, such as breathing, blood pressure, and glucose levels.

A high HRV indicates a cardiovascular system with greater heart rate variability to achieve maximum output during intense exercise and minimum heart output during recovery. 

This is sometimes referred to as a favorable HRV tone. This tone is measured in milliseconds of variability during a one-minute segment. During recovery, the involuntary parasympathetic system does most of the work for individuals with higher HRVs.

How To Improve Your Recovery Score

We all want to live a healthier and happier life. There will be challenges, but most of the variables or stressors are under our control. In addition to training, quality nutrition and sleep are the most relevant for improving rest and recovery.

Here are a few recommendations for increasing your HRV score: 

• Shut off caffeine consumption by early afternoon
• Minimize alcohol consumption (avoid close to bedtime)
• Enjoy your evening meal well before bedtime
• Meditate to reduce mental stress 

All of this comes down to awareness. As we know, what gets measured gets managed. Tracking HRV and considering the day’s inputs is often enough to shape the respective behaviors for better recovery.  

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Thanks so much for joining me today. Be safe out there and make 2025 your best running year ever!