Podcast 194: Understanding Heart Rate Variability and Its Performance Potential

This week, we revisit one of the top episodes - and one of our most commonly discussed topics: heart rate variability, or HRV.

This week, we revisit an all-time classic episode all about Heart Rate Variability (HRV). VP of Performance Kristen Holmes and SVP of Data Science and Research Emily Capodilupo dive deep into everything there is to know about HRV – and why it’s such a critical metric for evaluating your body’s readiness to perform. They discuss how HRV is a balance of your parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system, what those systems control, and how you can take steps to improve your HRV - and ultimately improve your recovery. Want to see your questions answered? Email us – Podcast@whoop.com – or you can call our listener line (508-443-4952) and leave a voicemail, and your question might be answered on a future episode.

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

0 - 3:00 Introduction 3:00 - 6:15 What is HRV? 6:35 - 9:15 Why is HRV valuable and what can it really tell us? 9:40 - 16:46 How HRV can be a sign of fitness 17:05 - 22:22 Why we collect HRV data during sleep 22:27 - 25:54 HRV and the Recovery Score 25:58 - 29:08 How HRV can fluctuate and is different for everyone 29:23 - 32:17 What a “normal” HRV could be 32:26 - 35:50 Simple lifestyle choices to improve HRV 36:15 - 38:37 How hydration relates to HRV 38:43 - 41:47 How nutrition relates to HRV 41:55 - 44:13 How sleep can impact HRV