How accurate is HRV?

[SunsetRunner]

How accurate is the HRV in the health metrics?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[MarkTDR]

My Fitbit charge 4 won't record HRV 

I only get basic sleep details. 

I swapped devices overnight with my partner as hers records her sleep score with no problems. 

She got her score using my Fitbit and I got my usual basic details wearing hers overnight 

I can only conclude that my mechanical heart valves throws the device into confusion.

Still at least I know what time it is on my wrist! 

[Less13]

Mine does not record HRV anymore

[Tlinlo7don]

My tests are delayed until May 15th. But tried another monitor and it read
113 while my fitbit recorded 16. Of course, this makes no sense and neither
manufacturer will give up how they calculate. Both descriptions of what the
result means are almost identical. I'll wait for the medical tests to come
back.

[mebolah]

Thanks for the update. That makes me feel a lot better because my Fitbit records me at around 12 and I’m pretty fit for 53.

Sent from my iPhone

[zerocool6687]

This! This was the post I was looking for… I hang out between 40 and 50 most days… I work out 6 days a week, twice a day. About 1:30-2:00 a day. RHR of 50-52… so the HRV of that amount almost seems impossible at the rate I’m at. If I’m extrapolating another 40 or so ms? 80-90 makes a lot more sense but also puts me in a solid range for a 43 year old. I need to test it another way now lol

[n8vz]

So, what do you make of a chart like this for a 77-year-old man with a resting heart rate in the low to mid 50s? 

 

[zerocool6687]

Not sure I understand the ask here? I mean if HRV drops as we age and you’re here… and IF Fitbit is often off by what seems to be around 40ms (I saw a second post that seems to confirm this) then you’re in terrific shape lol. 

[n8vz]

Well, part of what I’m asking is why it jumps around like it does in this graph.  I thought it was suppose to be somewhat stable with only gradual increases or decreases, and that the trend, up or down, was suppose to be indicative of a good or bad, respectively, balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.  So the relatively large changes from day to day would seem problematical.

[zerocool6687]

I think that’s what the bulk of the commentary is discussing. Granted I’m not sure about the stability but the large day to day swings may be something to explore. Personally I’ve saw swings after nights of heavy alcohol use (162 days dry) but I have largely stable readings that move slowly up and down between 40 and 50. Almost in a wave pattern. 

[Miss_Moe]

My HRV drops when I am under stress and after consuming alcohol. I have been watching it and connecting the dots to other things going in my life besides exercise and sleep. It is hovering around 44, which is ok for my age from what I’ve read (I’m 44), but drops to 18-25 during high stress, after drinking, etc.

[zerocool6687]

100! boozing always crashed my HRV; I find if my breathing rate jumps or I’m really dehydrated (live in a drier climate, if the humidifier isn’t on it impacts)… if I have a rough sleep. Nights like these I’ll see “crashes”. But if the data here is accurate, I’m probably 30-40 points better which puts me in a healthy range that I can stop freaking out about lol. This thread is great for health anxieties and I’ve recently learned I have a lot 😞

[Less13]

Mine quit tracking it

[Erkka]

Heart rates In exercise section and heart rate section are completely different, for same period of time (exercise time). I have asked it a few times and sent screenshots, but no explanation...

[Scotty7991]

Hr in exercise section records every second.  Hr in hr section is your average hr in 5 min intervals.  So that is the reason why it will never match.  Hr in hr section will always be lower vs the hr in exercise section due to the averaging.

[Erkka]

I noticed. It is a lot lower. Like max hr about 20-30 lower.

Ystävällisin terveisin,
Eero Laaksonen

[n8vz]

Isn’t one waking HR and the other resting HR while in bed and/or asleep?

[zerocool6687]

If you open the app and compare the HR on your watch or device to the top number, they will be relatively in sync. The smaller bottom number remains static and will

match the RHR data you can dig up by both tapping that specific section and the Health Metrics, which gives the break down for the evening. 

they are discussing under the exercise section which would record the variation in the HR during a period of exercise and averaged out under that section alone. 

[Erkka]

Ok

Ystävällisin terveisin,
Eero Laaksonen

[Tlinlo7don]

Sounds like more inconsistency with the fitbit monitor and/or app.

[Erkka]

So, if I understood right, the heart rate section is not showing my real heart rate. It is showing the average.

Ystävällisin terveisin,
Eero Laaksonen
eero59.laaksonen@outlook.com