HRV and Covid – an ithlete user’s perspective

Covid is still in the news, but mostly because of the revelations about Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages. Otherwise, you might get the impression that Covid has gone away.  I work in the NHS.  Until a few weeks ago I was required to undergo a lateral flow test twice a...

HRV and Understanding Illness

Using ithlete to measure HRV and predict or understand illness and guide a return to training by Janet Birkmyre I suppose that most of us will have thought a little more about the effects of viral infection on our health and training over the past couple of years,...

HRV and Covid – Training during and after infection

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.

How To Handle An Unexpected ithlete HRV Reading

by Jan Birkmyre Thanks to ithlete I have been tracking my heart rate variability (HRV) via a reading taken every morning since 2012.  It is so much a part of my routine these days that it sets the tone for my day.  Using the ithlete Pro version of the app I can track...

Lockdown Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

by Jan Birkmyre According to my daily heart rate variability (HRV) readings from ithlete, it is very clear my body loves this lockdown.  On reflection, I suppose, that should not come as a complete surprise but even so, the magnitude of the improvement is a shock....

Notes from a high-volume cycling training camp

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.

Simon’s Tenerife Training Camp

The plan The main objective of this camp was to get in some good base miles with an emphasis on climbing in preparation for my second year of the Mallorca 312 challenge. Living in the New Forest in southern England, the terrain barely meets the criteria for...

How to use HRV in sports training Part 2

Performing the Daily Measurement with ithlete Here are recommendations for taking your daily heart-rate variability (HRV) measurement: Take the 60-second test in the morning, before breakfast or caffeinated drinks. The exact time is not as important as making sure you...

Why does it remain so difficult to recover? Loss of Routine and Structure

I had always felt like my routine was dictated by pool and gym hours. Strangely I had never set myself recovery hours. Never set aside any portion of the day for doing things to promote recovery; napping, meditating, visualisation etc. and subsequently recovery was being neglected. The irony then, of complaining of free time, when there were already more swimming related jobs for me to be doing than I was fitting into a day.

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – October

Following the post-holiday blip, HRV has been fairly stable even considering my cold in mid-September. Mood and stress though have been an issue, particularly mood, most notably post holiday (expected) but also through the most part of September.

A Daily Training Cycle

Andrew Tamplin has created and shared a great infographic giving us an insight in to his daily training cycle and decision making process.
‘The morning recovery test effects all other aspects of the daily cycle, the simple fact is that if you are not recovered sufficiently from your previous workout, work or other life stress then you are not going to be training effectively.’

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – July

End of June is a scheduled recovery week, so not much during the week other than a 75 minute tempo ride on the 30th. Then on the weekend 2nd July was a group ride 2 hrs 30 mins, 56% in heart rate zone 2 and 38% in zone 3. On the 3rd it was Hill repeats at...

Mallorca 312 – Event and post race recovery

In summary, I think the preparation for this event was a success – especially the many hours of MAF endurance training, and the aerodynamic improvements to both my position and the bike itself. I think diet was the only area I didn’t get quite right, and perhaps I need to gain confidence that I can perform on a low(er) carb diet on a 100m event first.

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – April

Week 14 This week culminates in a long training ride for our charity event (see footer). So the week would focus on low volume with HIIT, and introduces the first build phase of the training plan; 5th April – 65 minutes inc w/u, endurance based with 6 x 60 seconds...

Training for the Mallorca 312. The final month.

I have now begun my taper, with just a week to go before the 312km event in Mallorca next Saturday. I’m already in the centre zone of the Pro Training Guide, and expect to move rightwards during the week as my recovery continues to improve.

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – January

The start of the year sees a return to a training plan. 4th Jan was the first session, which was endurance based with 2 x 10min tempo included, 60 mins, repeated on the 6th (although this suggested HIIT, I stayed with the schedule). 8th Jan strayed from the plan when...

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...

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin- December

December will be a few weeks of preparation, with a plan to carry out an FTP test over Christmas. To start the week was 90mins constant higher endurance on the turbo. 1st and 2nd had good readings, 1st was a rest day, so on the 2nd it was a 60min lower endurance...

An Interview with Chris Kilmurray

In this podcast ithlete founder Simon Wegerif talks to rider and coach Chris Kilmurray of Point1Athletic. As well as discussing his own HRV journey Chris provides examples of how different athletes respond to training techniques/volumes and importantly how HRV is a...

Training Blog: Brian Schwind – October

 With my last race of the season completed I headed into September and October with the main goal of recovery and rejuvenation. My focus is spending more time with my wife, getting outside and doing some different activities, and just enjoying some free time. I have...

Tuesday Tip: Event Day Nerves & HRV

Race day arrives but your ithlete score is amber. Familiar? Don’t panic! Here’s why that might be happening and some useful tips to help you balance it out ahead of the race.