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417 Posts in 90 Topics by 105 members
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Forum » Getting the most from ithlete » Inconsistent readings!
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| Author | Topic: Inconsistent readings! | 273 Views |

9 November 2011 at 9:19pm
Hey iv recently purchased the myithlete and very eager to get started with it.
Over the last 2years iv had alot of difficultys that have slowed my training down for
Some reason. Training starts in a few weeks so eager to get on with it. I received
The myithlete yesterday, so last night around 7.30pm I took a reading to make sure everything
Was working fine and a reading to start with. The hrv was 76. This morning was my first
Reading from getting up, so at 6.30am my hrv was 69. I'm not the best sleeper so I'm bit worried
Bout the reading in the morning being inconsistent. So I wanted to do my hrv when I got home from
Work as this is the time I train at. So at 5.15pm my hrv was 83! Knowing this was abit high I took
another reading after my tea and had settled. So at 6.15 hrv was 69. I wanted try few other things to
see how the readings are. So waited another hour and at 7.30 hrv was 60! So waited a few minutes
and took next reading sitting down, hrv was 76. Waited another few minutes before trying again,this time
Was 67. I'm alittle confused at the inconsistenty of the readings. Iam being to eager but I really want to
Get to know how everything is and how my body is reacting over the day.

10 November 2011 at 2:07pm
Hi Tony & welcome to the ithlete Forum!
I'll try & explain what's going on with your readings in turn - but the users guide is a great resource - not only tips for using & getting the most out of ithlete, but also user bios & sections on overtraining from some world renowned coaches. It's at www.myithlete.com/download-ithlete-users-guide
Now to your readings. First one is fine. Everyone has to try it when it arrives, but like you say it's not your first real reading. First real reading this am was lower. That is absolutely normal, and is caused by variations in hormone levels - especially cortisol in the morning which is what gets you going at the start of the day. For this reason, readings later in the day will usually be higher, unless you have done intensive training or stressful work, in which case a lower HRV will reflect the need for recovery. Likewise, readings in the sitting position are higher than those standing up, because standing is a form of stress for which the body adapts the heart output to maintain blood pressure to the head.
There is also often an issue with taking back to back measurements, because HRV is a sensitive measure, and like blood pressure it does react quickly to your current state. The previous post http://www.myithlete.com/getting-the-most-from-ithlete/show/9?start=8#post150 describes more fully the reason for this.
In summary, I would recommend starting with 1 reading per day, standing up, preferably right after awakening, though if you really cant get on with this time, then a time later in the day which is consistent with respect to eg mealtimes, caffeine etc.
Hope this helps & feel free to comment again!

10 November 2011 at 6:04pm
Thanks for that. I had red through some of the user guide but has red it all now. I'm taking my readings on a off week, actually 5th week off after a long, hard and stressful year. The main thing that attracted me to the myithlete apart from it's obvious gains for training, is the part I red in user guide about overtraining and becoming parasympathetic. I'm not one for listening to my body and think more training is better and someone is else is doing way more than me then I should be doing this also. Iv learned the hard way this is not the way! the myithlete is gona be very beneficial to me. But this year after a good off season things were looking good. After maybe a month of starting competing ( I race motocross and from start of march I'm competing every weekend until the end of September with no weekends off with training 4-5days in the off season and 3 days in the season) I just all of a sudden stated getting really tired when competing but for few weeks after was still training ok so just thought I had a bug the it just got worse to the point I could hardly train or compete. Not one for giving up, people not believing me, sponsors etc I continued on with things not getting any better. With several trips to the doctors nothing come of it. Then after going for a run I couldn't run any quicker than warmup pace for 25mins even though I was trying to tell my body to run hard. I was sick of it and went back to the doctor only to be told I was mildly depressed and it was physical not mental. After going on the mild depressing pills things were going great for about 7weeks and was training hard and putting best race results for few weeks then went downhill fast again. luckily the season ended soon after and now 5weeks on from the end I'm feeling ok but have lots of douts in my condition. My trainer ( i have a personal trainers that does my training programe specifically for motocross, fitness test etc so my training is constructive) found the myithlete and instantly related my tiredness to parasympathetic. I wasn't sure as I don't want to believe it. I just had a fitness test and things are looking good in my conditioning for a starting point to my new training. But after that long rant what I'd like to know is when and how will I notice if anything in my readings if I did have any form of over training from before in the fact that iv started my readings from a long period of rest.

19 November 2011 at 7:08pm
Hi Tony
Apologies for not replying sooner - it's been a long week for me too this week!
The fact that you are building your ithlete baseline during an off period where your conditioning is good is a definite advantage, because you will be able to see trends over long periods of time on the chart screen, which you can tap anywhere on to change between week, month, 3 month & longer views.
Downward trends indicate sympathetic overreaching & overtraining if continued long enough. You will also see amber & red indications on the Weekly & Monthly change indications.
Upwards trends during recovery periods indicate adaptation of the aerobic energy system to improved levels of performance & fitness, but you should be suspicious of sudden upwards changes, especially during periods of high loading from training or competition. ithlete tries to identify these sudden upwards changes that can indicate the onset of parasympathetic overtraining with a red traffic light, as this is a condition that takes weeks if not months to recover from. An inability to get your heart rate up during training is also a reliable sign that you could be heading for trouble in this direction.
Whether the trends are big ups or big downs, the treatment is the same - rest !
I hope this helps, and please let us know how you get on. The real key is what you mentioned near the beginning of your last post - listening to your body, and ithlete helps you to be more objective about that process.
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