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I've beeb advised to use ithlete by my cardiologist, I currently suffer paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and may need another ablation; my problem at present is very stressful work and insomnia which obviously stops me training well- I usually cycle 4 times per week at sub to super threshold intensities up to 2 hours and probably between 4 and 6 hours per week- but I seem to have a correlation between heart rate and hrv; if my heart rate is higher during measurement then my hrv is lower, is this always the case? Also, I think the hrv seems to reflect my stress and fatigue as at present it is between mid 50s and mid 60s most of the time despite my fitness being quite competitive in the summer. As a teacher/head of sixth form september/october is a bad time for me!

Hi
that's really interesting and thanks for your reply. Several points I'd like to discuss. Atrial Fibrillation in athletes is predominantly 'vagal' or parasympathetic and indeed I have suffered AF as a result of this but 'adrenal' or 'sympathetic' AF is what seems to have got me now due to aforesaid work stress and constantly 'fighting' belligerent teenagers.` I have trained at higher intensities this year and shorter durations so maybe that is a problem-I'm not a huge competitor really but train quite hard and know I'm not bad compared to other recreational athletes my age when I do compete but again work limits this. Would you say then that I should train below threshold most of the time? Furthermore, should I restrict myself to 'aerobic' i.e. Maffetone as a possible way of restoring parasympathetic tone? 6 weeks? And can this restore balance because I never realised that and it is quite a revelation for me. Alternatively, could I do lots of sub threshold work 85%- 90% of max heart rate or would this risk a 'fight' response or over stretching adrenals? I ask this because I like this 'Sweet Spot' work as Coggan advocates ( 85-95 % of one hour threshold power) as it gets me quite fit in a short time and isn't mentally destructive like pure threshold work. Incidentally,
it's half term holiday and after 2 days rest , some quality sleep and a hard sweet spot ride yesterday my HRV was between 74 and 80 this morning so work is my problem! If only i could do another job but I'm clueless outside the classroom!

AF in athletes is thought to be caused (or exacerbated at least) by the heart chamber enlargement that comes from high volume training. This, as you say, is often associated with parasympathetic dominance that leads to very low resting HR eg below 40 bpm. You don't say what your resting HR is by the way, but with the HRV values you quoted, I'm assuming that it's not quite that low.
I have a good friend & long time ithlete user who has a similar condition to you, and we have looked for patterns in his HRV that can predict episodes of AF, but have not managed to. He is fairly sure he gets more episodes when stressed from life situations like yourself.
I'm not a doctor, so you need to get advice on the type of training best suited to your condition from your Cardiologist. HRV is a great diagnostic tool and narrowing down the sources of your stress can only help in the process of reducing them (or their impact). I do want to recommend Yogic breathing - I was very skeptical until I tried it myself!
Regarding the effectiveness of Sweet Spot training, Stephen Seiler's review of intensity training for endurance athletes at http://www.sportsci.org/2009/ss.htm is the best summary I know of, and concludes that there is no substitute for putting in many many hours & miles of aerobic training if you are going to reach your full potential. Of course the real question for those of us that have to fit in jobs & families is what is the most time efficient way to train & I think SST may have a very valid role.

Have you read this....? http://www.biketechreview.com/performance/supply