You already know that the fitness industry uses heart rate as a means to attempt to assess the amount of work that your body is performing and that this assessment is based on the number of beats per minute. But did you know that there is also a far more useful way to assess and use heart rate? It is called Heart Rate Variability.
Heart Rate Variability is the difference in the interval of time between heart beats. Normally this interval decreases when you inhale and increases as you exhale. This means that your heart rate is faster when you breathe in and slower when you breathe out. The variance of the beat-beat rate, as opposed to the total beats per minute, has been shown by the Heart Math Institute to be indicative of the stress that your body is dealing with at that moment.
Just identifying the stress is not very helpful. That’s where some training can help to show you how you can make a difference in your body’s response. It’s been over 15 years since I purchased my first Heart Math product and in that time I have watched them consistently advance research and improve their technologies. Most recently, they have developed a smart phone app to make their tools even more user friendly. Having tested it with a couple clients, I have found it to be a great way to get you started on connecting with your own heart rate variability.
There is still so much to learn about how the heart governs, informs and connects us, and realizing that there is much more is the first step. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about Heart Rate Variability.
And, as always, let me know how I can help.
-Adam
Heart Rate Variability is the difference in the interval of time between heart beats. Normally this interval decreases when you inhale and increases as you exhale. This means that your heart rate is faster when you breathe in and slower when you breathe out. The variance of the beat-beat rate, as opposed to the total beats per minute, has been shown by the Heart Math Institute to be indicative of the stress that your body is dealing with at that moment.
Just identifying the stress is not very helpful. That’s where some training can help to show you how you can make a difference in your body’s response. It’s been over 15 years since I purchased my first Heart Math product and in that time I have watched them consistently advance research and improve their technologies. Most recently, they have developed a smart phone app to make their tools even more user friendly. Having tested it with a couple clients, I have found it to be a great way to get you started on connecting with your own heart rate variability.
There is still so much to learn about how the heart governs, informs and connects us, and realizing that there is much more is the first step. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about Heart Rate Variability.
And, as always, let me know how I can help.
-Adam
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