HRV Health

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is great science. We did not invent it. We are perfecting it. HRV is the measure of health. The higher the numbers, the better your health. Good health is part genetic and mostly good lifestyle. People who exercise regularly, have a healthy diet, sleep well, and look after themselves have high HRV, and are rarely ill. People who smoke, have poor diets, lead sedentary lives, drink too much alcohol have low HRV and this shows in their medical history and quality of life. HRV drops with age, and improving HRV is the way to reverse the ageing process. With the HRV Health Pro app you can measure your progress. Athletes have been using HRV for years to measure the impact of rigorous training on their systems, adapting their training regimen according to what their HRV data says. When they are overtrained, the HRV figure will tell them that it’s time to take a break. When they’re on a good day, the data gives them the confidence to push that little bit harder. The HRV Health Platform provides recommendations to athletes based on the data from the app. Elite athletes who use our systems have proven that our recommendations work. People with health conditions are usually advised to change their lifestyles. The HRV metrics tell them when the changes are working. Crucial to the validity of the results is the quality of the data acquisition equipment and the reading conditions. This is the foundation of our thinking. The apps only link to the Polar H9 and H10 heart rate monitors, and we look for indicators that warn if the reading is taken in less than ideal conditions. The philosophy creates trust - crucial for decision making based on the results. HRV Health has a web based platform where users can see all of their results. But not everyone wants all that information every day. The HRV Health app is designed for people who care about their health, love and trust the guidance that the HRV Health results give them, and want to see their data and graphs on their mobile device. However, the Platform remains the primary source for analysing your HRV data, and seeing your health trends. The app also allows users to take ECG readings. One days soon, doctors will say: “Just send me your HRV Health ECG graph.” It’s here now, and it works. Sounds like science fiction. It is science. It’s not fiction. Please Note: You must have the Polar H9 or H10 heart rate monitor to use this app. The ECG reading only works with the H10. We have good reason for using the Polar heart rate monitors. They are the gold standard in measuring HRV. They are within 1% of the equipment found in hospitals. Good data produces good results. There are two ways of taking HRV readings: using PPG, which is what many wearable devices do, and the heart’s electro cardio signals (ECG). Measuring the pulse usually at the extremities of the body is undesirable, and for this reason we only use the best of the chest strap heart rate monitors - the Polar H9 and H10. We acknowledge that this is less convenient, but the quality of data is paramount to the reliability of the metrics. We have conducted tests comparing the data produced by the leading wearable devices against those of the Polar H10 monitors. The differences between the HRV results from the different technologies vary by between 19% and 30% depending on the health of the person. HRV is measured in milliseconds, and so small errors make a big difference for the lower figures associated with poor health. For this reason, until something better comes along, we will continue to use the Polar heart rate monitors exclusively.