During the early part of the pandemic, in June 2020, ithlete won a grant to try and determine whether or not changes in daily HRV could be used to detect the onset and subsequent severity of the illness. What we didn’t know about at the time we conducted the survey of ithlete users, was how Covid would affect an otherwise healthy athlete’s ability to train during the illness and subsequent recovery.
Let’s take another look.
Long time ithlete user Coach Chris Kilmurray recently shared these insights on Twitter. This is an excellent example of how many coaches use ithlete as an overview of how the athlete is coping with training and other stresses and then as a tool to dig deeper when needed.
Given that we have seen a lot less of each other in the past 10 months, it strikes me that these metrics have become an even more important part of the coaching relationship.
With ithlete v4 the way you interact with your data is changing. Interactive charts, smoother third-party integrations and better training guidance are just some of the tools ensuring you will train smarter every time.
Did you know that ithlete allows you to download and send your data to others? Here is a step by step guide to exporting your data from the mobile app or ithlete Pro.
The ithlete sensors are the best around, independently validated for accuracy, convenient and durable. Some users don’t get the hang of taking measurements right away, so to ensure you don’t waste any time follow the tip tips found here.
We recommend you take your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) reading at the same time of day – just after waking up and before drinking tea / coffee or checking your emails and social media. But why does it matter what time of day you take an HRV reading, and why can’t you compare a reading taken in the morning with one taken after lunch or in the evening?
How two different approaches to training camps in quick succession drove results, impacted wellness and how all of this is shown in HRV.
Follow these 5 simple summer training tips to keep your workouts on track during the warmer weather.
Most ithlete Pro users really love this feature when they get used to it, but we have been told others don’t fully understand what the chart is showing them. We have written this starter guide to help you learn what it can tell you more quickly.
Why choose ithlete as your HRV tool?
There are an increasing number of ways to track Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Here are some of the key reasons to still choose the pioneer HRV app ithlete…
We know sleep is hugely important for recovery. Here are some excellent tips from an article by expert Nick Littlehales.
You’ve done the training and logged the miles – so how do you ensure your taper is on track to deliver the best possible performance on the big day?
What is inflamm-aging? And what can you do to ensure you’re inflamm-aging well? A reseaarch summary of the origional paper and how tracking HRV relates.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is an excellent measure of overall health and fitness. Upward trends have consistently been shown to correlate with increases in health, fitness and sporting performance. So how do you get your baseline rising?
ithlete has been copied by many imitators since 2009, but as we continue to develop and innovate no one competitor has achieved the combination of easy to access ithlete’s features and benefits.
There has also been a large amount of research into the relationship between HRV and stress. The most common and important source of stress to athletes is pre-competitive anxiety and it is not known to what extent this impairs their performance.
We recently came across an article highlighting difficulties when trying to identify chronic fatigue using HRV. The authors graciously gave us the opportunity to reply, which is now is part of the revised article, and here are our final thoughts.
Recording Training Load alongside your heart rate variability measurements adds context and better feeds the Simon Says AI training guidance. Read about how best to do so here.
Many people enjoy watching their HRV number fall after hard training, followed by a rebound a day or two later can be very satisfying. They also notice the impact of a late night for example, or a short illness. But it’s not always that simple to interpret the cause of changes.
Understand how the ithlete baseline is calculated, what the daily training recommendations are and how you get to these.
We needed a measure that was scientifically credible from a 1 minute measurement and was intuitive for the user. Here is why our patented lnRMSSDx20 formula fitted the bill.
The second installment in our Why ithlete? series looks at the ultra short 1 min measurement. Why we chose it, how it was validated and is now best practice
When you breathe in your heart beats faster, and when you breathe out, it slows down again. For this reason, we ask you to follow paced breathing whilst we measure your heart rate variability (HRV).
Although undoubtedly effective in developing strength and fitness, CrossFit also has a reputation for overuse injuries. Can tracking HRV reduce this risk?
Coaches of elite athletes share some of their ithlete HRV data and observations which illustrates useful feedback on how they were adapting to training and other stresses.
The third post in the series from Richard Beck, looking at the results of his study.
From a practical perspective, measuring your HRV at altitude and comparing to HRV at sea level can show how sensitive you are to the effects of altitude, and that if you are an elite level endurance athlete, you may be more sensitive than mere mortals! Here is the research.
When friends told me that data collection was the hardest part of a dissertation, I didn’t believe them. However, trying to get 20 rugby players to collect HRV data as soon as they woke up every morning was definitely challenging.
Most endurance athletes are familiar with the term ‘overreaching’. That’s when you do high volumes of intensified training to cause supercompensation. But what actually happens to your body and what measures can you use to identify when overreaching has gone too far and become unproductive?
“Simon Says” ™ is a new, exciting addition to ithlete Pro that does all the heavy lifting of interpreting your recovery metrics and delivers them in a short paragraph that can be read and understood in just a few seconds.
Periodisation refers to the alternation of loading and de-loading phases within training, balanced with periods of recovery in order to produce supercompensation – the magic by which the athlete’s performance improves.
Simon Wegerif shares his experience and tips following this years week long cycling training camp in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The excellent paved roads extending from sea level to the main crater of Mt Teide at 2100m give continuous climbs of 18 – 48 km i.e. some of the longest in Europe.
This recent email exchange between a customer and ithlete founder Simon Wegerif discussed several interesting and useful points. So, with the customer’s permission we are sharing it as a blog post.
This study followed one looking at changes in HRV during preseason training camp and was designed to assess HRV changes during the early part of the competitive season to see whether the same effects on different positions occurred to the same extent.
Athletes and their coaches are always looking for reliable, convenient ways to monitor how well their training is going and performance gains its producing. We know that morning HRV measures are affected by training programmes, but what should we look for to be effectively monitoring adaptation?