WA Real

Measuring your heart rate variability, or HRV, may be one of the most important measures that is easily accessible to you in terms of our health, fitness, and overall life longevity, but what exactly is heart rate variability? and how can you measure it? That's exactly what I explored this week with Coach Joel Jamieson who has over 20 years of working with heart rate variability while training Olympic athletes, MMA fighters, Navy Seals, NBA and NFL stars. Joel explains exactly what HRV is – a measurement of recovery - while also breaking down the basic principles of exercise. He explains how under recovery is at the heart of most injuries. We then discuss how you can measure HRV and what are key features to look for in selecting a measurement device. Joel then explains how HRV is scored and how to interpret the score and what to do with it. The conversation then broadened out to explore the impact of stress on our HRV and how a high base level of HRV places us in good stead to face the stresses and uncert