Why ithlete? The one minute measure
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
Can daily HRV monitoring predict the incidence of injury in CrossFit™ athletes?
Although undoubtedly effective in developing strength and fitness, CrossFit also has a reputation for overuse injuries. Can tracking HRV reduce this risk?
Do fluctuations in training load lead to changes in heart-rate variability in elite rugby union players?
The third post in the series from Richard Beck, looking at the results of his study.
HRV guides trained cyclists to new performance highs
Who, what & why In a previous post we covered studies that show using HRV to be significantly better than a standard training program in improving the performance of club and recreational runners. Now, a new study by researchers from the Universities of Alicante...What position to take your HRV – lying down or standing?
Who, what & why? It’s a question we get asked a lot at ithlete: should I take my morning measurement lying down in bed, or standing up? Our response has always been that if you have a low resting heart rate (less than 55 bpm), then you should be doing the...HRV response to breathing thin air
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.
Data collection with elite athletes – the challenges and recommendations
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.
The effects of overreaching on trained cyclists
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?
HRV as a measure of recovery in US College Football Players in-season
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.
Monitoring adaptation to training with HRV – what’s the best metric?
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?
The effect of fluctuations in training load on heart rate variability in elite rugby union players
Masters student and Rugby Union player Richard Beck tells us about his dissertation using ithlete. Additional research into daily HRV responses to rugby training and matches is always welcome and Richard’s study will be a great addition.
Periodisation – A shake up to training adaptation theory?
The stress – adaptation response considered to underlie improvements in performance caused by training has hardly been questioned in almost 100 years. Now, a new and thought-provoking review paper questions the basis for this model, especially as it applies to human...Individualised cold water immersion to speed recovery
Who, what and why? Coldwater immersion baths are often used to speed up recovery in both endurance and team sports. It is thought to be effective by moving fluid back from muscle tissue into the circulation, preventing reduction in contractility and associated muscle...Physiological Responses to Spring Football in College Players
For over 5 years, the team of Andrew Flatt & Mike Esco have been doing sports performance HRV studies in collegiate athletes. Their latest project involves monitoring HRV in collegiate football players during spring camp. Players in different positions have...New Study: Investigating resilience and heart rate variability
Jasmine Raw, Dr Louise Leyland, Dr Carien van Reekum and Dr Michiko Sakaki This study is being performed at the University of Reading, UK to look further into the relationship between age, heart rate variability (HRV) and the ability to regulate emotions and...How does HIIT make you fitter? And how intense does it need to be?
Interval exercise typically involves repeated bouts of intense exercise followed by short periods of recovery. This method is commonly divided into high-intensity interval training (HIIT; ‘near maximal’ efforts of 85-95% max heart rate) and sprint interval training...GB du/triathlete’s HRV and race performance correlation
I have been using ithlete for over three years now but it’s only been since the start of the year (2017) that I have started using it to its full potential with an ithlete Pro subscription. In previous years I would exclusively just use the iPhone app to help guide me...HRV guides recreational runners to faster 5k
What is really remarkable about this study is that those following HRV guided training time showed greater 5k performance improvement over their control group counterparts every time!
How exactly do different types of exercise make you fitter and stronger?
We know that you can use a number of different modes of exercise to improve strength and fitness. But what mechanisms each works by has not been completely understood and communicated, nor has whether these effects change with age.
Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and HRV
AF affects the performance of the heart, especially amongst older, less healthy people. But it also affects a significant percentage of Masters athletes. A large study over a 20 year period shows an interesting correlation between Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and HRV. There are optimum values of HRV and resting heart rate, above and below which the chances of developing AF increase significantly.
Alcohol, HRV and athletic recovery – what you ought to know
Government guidelines in the UK suggest no more than 14 units per week, equivalent to a standard glass of wine or a pint of lower strength (4%) beer every day for maintaining health. But do these suggestions also apply to athletes in training?
HIIT for recreational runners – does it work?
Is HIIT a better use of your precious training time than longer sessions of continuous running? An important question for runners is ‘am I more likely to get injured with one type or the other?’
International Olympic Committee’s Recommendations for Total Load in Sport
Doing a good job of managing your total load will reduce the likelihood of illness and injury significantly. This post follows our recent summary of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s consensus statement on loading in sport and focuses specifically on their practical recommendations.
Total load in athletes: How much is too much? International Olympic Committee Review
A summary of the International Olympic Committee’s recent review of over 30 papers investigating the relationship between total load and illness/injury in athletes.
Athletes: Fit but unhealthy?
Prof Paul Laursen & Dr Phil Maffetone have consistently preached the message that elite level performance needn’t be at the cost of your long term health. Their recent opinion piece highlighting why is summarised here.
Success as an athlete depends on managing injury and illness
The Australian Institute of Sport monitored 33 international track and field athletes across 5 seasons. They found injury and illness were major factors for success.
The ithlete Finger Sensor – convenient for sure, but is it accurate?
Who, what & why? In an earlier blog post Measurement of HRV we described how heart rate variability (HRV) measurements were originally performed using the Electro Cardiograph (ECG or EKG) and then later by Polar chest straps once those had been validated for beat...Research Summary: Cumulative fatigue in Elite cyclists during the Tour of Spain
Who, what & why? The three week long cycling Grand Tours (Italy, France, Spain) are well known to be amongst the hardest multi day endurance events in the World. But for most of us that will never experience one, how fatigued do the riders actually become, and...Heart Rate Variability and long life – what’s the connection?
HRV has been recognised as an index of stress and vulnerability to stress, so it’s no big surprise that researchers have been looking for possible relationships between higher HRV and a longer lifespan.
What happens to HRV when training load ramps up fast?
It is very important to take into account the trends reported by both the Week and Month Change indications, as these are the ones that will report an increasing and unsustainable imbalance between stress and recovery.
Fat adaptation for exercise – how far can it go?
Despite a great deal of discussion about, and anecdotal evidence to support the benefits of a low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) diet, there have been few studies examining the degree to which athletes’ metabolisms have been altered to take advantage of this dramatic change in fuel for exercise.
The role of monitoring the autonomic nervous system in musculoskeletal overuse injury research
PhD candidate Angela Spontelli Gisselman PT, DPT, OCS details the who, what and why of her own recent research in to overuse injuries and the ANS.
How well does HRV reflect overall health?
Who, what and why? Heart rate variability, or HRV, has long been considered to reflect overall health. Since the 1980s, Professor Steven Porges described HRV as an index not only of stress, but of vulnerability to stress. In other words, the higher someone’s HRV, the...Can HRV help detect concussion?
Who, what & why Traumatic brain injuries, such as concussion, are unfortunately an occupational hazard in many contact sports. As I write this, sad news was announced today that 23 year old rugby player Lilly Partridge had died following a head injury during...What Exactly is the Influence of Breathing Rate and Depth on HRV?
In our latest research summary, we take a look at one of the papers we reviewed carefully when designing ithlete back in 2009
Adrenal Fatigue and Overtraining
Following on from our recent research summary, we take a closer look at adrenal fatigue and how it affects your training and performance
Can your HRV Number be too High? Here’s the Research
Our latest research summary focuses on two studies from Yann Le Meur who sheds some light on how and when parasympathetic overreaching occurs.
Can your Morning HRV Predict your Cycling Performance?
Who, what, why? In two previous posts, we summarised studies that showed an almost unbelievable ability for night-time / morning heart rate variability (HRV) to predict the changes in performance of both swimmers and club runners. HRV and Swimming Time Trial Results...Heart Rate Variability and Health Part 3 – Workplace Stress
Summarising a very interesting piece of research looking at how work affects individuals in both psychological and physiological respects.
Research Summary: HRV shows how individual squad members adapt to group training practices
Summarising a very interesting piece of research looking at predicting team sports performance using heart rate variability (HRV).
Heart Rate Variability & Health – pt.2 Predicting chronic disease
Using the Framingham data this paper focuses on heart rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate as predictors of cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, and the so-called metabolic syndrome that also includes obesity and blood fat levels.
Research summary: A successful vs. an overtrained triathlete
Our latest research summary takes a look at a case study of heart rate variability (HRV) in two elite triathletes, one successful, one overtrained
HRV response to stress predicts degree of sleep disturbance
Research summary of an intelligent study trying to understand the relationship between daytime heart rate variability (HRV), HRV response to periods of worry and sleep disturbance.
Research Summary: Sleep quality is related to HRV before bed
Researchers at the University of Salzburg, Austria and the University of California wanted to test the idea that if daytime heart rate variability (HRV) is strongly linked to physical and mental health, would HRV also be a predictor of healthy sleep?
Can HRV be used as a more accurate, individualized measure of training load?
This is an interesting study that suggest that HRV has the potential to deliver a sport independent comparable training load number, a goal long sought after by sports scientists and coaches.
HRV predicts game performance of football players
A very interesting post looking at predicting team sports performance using heart rate variability
Heart rate variability & Health – pt.1 Inflammation
Recent research sheds light on a vagus nerve ‘hack’ which reduces arthritic inflammation. This new evidence further backs up that an increase in your HRV through exercise can reduce inflammation.