How accurate is HRV?

[SunsetRunner]

How accurate is the HRV in the health metrics?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Pegomas1]

All I can say is I hope it's not accurate 😀

I've got the health metrics dashboard with the versa 2 and my hrv measurements are off the chart low which is a bit of a surprise but I'll give it a week or two to see it changes because its a temporary illness thing or the reading is inaccurate. 

[SunsetRunner]

Lol! I was hoping I wasn't the only one!!! Mine is super low also. Like in the 20’s. I'm like this thing can't be right! 

[CindiLi]

Mine is showing 11ms!!  I don’t know what this means.  

[SunsetRunner]

I really hope this is wrong! I have an Inspire HR and mine is super low. Mid 30s female, 5’1, 119 lbs with a resting heart rate between 69-74. My HRV for the last 3 days says it’s 26 milliseconds... with my research that’s not a good thing! Sure I have some stress but it’s manageable. 

[SunsetRunner]

I'm so.glad I'm not the only one! I keep looking at it and thinking according to this dumb watch I must be dying! 

[solar_flair]

So glad I found this thread! My hrv has been stuck at 39ms for the last three days. My RHR is 52, I exercise regularly and get decent sleep. 
We’ve been out with friends having more drinks lately (with masks and distancing of course) so I thought maybe that was the issue. Haven’t had any alcohol in the past few days and still no movement in the HRV.

Looking this up online it appears I have the heart of a 75 year old 😂. I’m 44 and have been running for over a decade. Anyway, hope this helps someone who, like me, may have been ready to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist.

[Duc916]

Same issue here with the very low result numbers that don't appear accurate.  Thanks all for posting....

[bevy4]

I’m so glad to find this post. My rhr is always around 60, and i exercise and have a healthy diet and normal weight, etc. My hrv according to my Charge 3 is 20. I was worried I might have died and gone to the afterlife or something, so thanks for your assurances that I’m not the only one.

[Pegomas1]

😂😂 You're lucky!! I've still not made the "magic 20" yet!! I'm currently on an 18,19,18,19 streak!! Still!! If consistency is the goal, then Ive got this hrv thing all wrapped up!! 😂

[usingversa2]

Me, too! I'm in the low 20's and thought I might be on my way out...haha. Yay for this thread!

[SunsetRunner]

Same!!! 

[LeeGG]

I've been interested in HRV over the years.  Lately, I'm using the eliteHRV app to measure it.  The app says that smart watches are not sufficiently accurate in the measurement of the time intervals between heart beats.  I use a chest strap for HR in the app.

I have compared Versa 2 HR values to the chest strap during exercise.  During the initial aerobic exercise when HR is climbing, I've noticed that the Versa 2 HR lags the chest strap value.  HRV measures how the HR is constantly varying.  I expect a lag in the measurement would dampen the amount of measured variation and lower the reading.

The Fitbit values can still be of value to us but the values may not be comparable to other measurement methods of HRV. 

[GilesB]

The average result so far for me with my Blaze is 28, which seemed very low.

Just downloaded the Elite HRV App and used an HR chest strap to compare and got 57!

[Salted_caramel]

I hope it's not. Mine is in the 20s and I'm 34 years old (normal BMI), relatively active.. According to online research, that's the result of a 70 year old. 

[Duc916]

Thanks for that info...53 for me using the Elite HRV App....What a great app.....the creator has all kinds of fantastic information on their website covering the topic.  Between 19-26 using my Versa 2

[SunsetRunner]

Mine was in the 20’s and today it's at 18. I was hoping it would go up but it's going down. 

[Jacko99]

So glad I found this information. I’m fit and active but Sense shows my HRV ranging between 13 and 28 (Fitbit shows I have a cardio fitness rating of 47). I gave my Versa 2 to my wife who is also pretty fit and hers shows HRV of 17... I stopped exercising for 4 days thinking I must be extremely overtrained but HRV has not improved. Fitbit really needs to resolve this issue as HRV is an important metric that people may use to make training / lifestyle changes and to prevent making people worry unnecessarily. 

[t.parker]

@Jacko99 I believe the only way to resolve the issue is to allow to use of chest straps. I don't think it will get any better with inaccurate wrist HR sensors. With the Garmin watch, I also need to use a chest strap to measure HRV (won't allow me to measure HRV with a wrist monitor). The sensor must be suited to obtain R-R intervals and of excellent accuracy.

@LeeGG EliteHRV is a brilliant app! I have been using it for a couple of months and it is the best reason to wake up early in the morning (just to read my morning readiness) 😄

[Jacko99]

As a result of very low HRV readings (some as low as 13-14) on my Sense, I purchased a Polar10. It arrived today and I paired it with the eliteHrv app... my first reading (at lunchtime) shows an HRV Score of 51, whereas my Fitbit (whilst asleep) recorded An HRV Score of 14. When I looked at the details behind the Polar/EliteHrv Figure there was a RMSSD score of 27.54. Fitbit state they use RMSSD to determine their HRV score. Perhaps Fitbit just take RMSSD and present that as the HRV score without apply the follow on calculations (or incorrect calculations)?

I will take a reading with the Polar H10/EliteHrv combo when I wake up to get a more appropriate comparison with Fitbit and see if the two RMSSD figures are more aligned to better test this theory.