Got a new wearable that tracks HRV and now I’ve got another damn number to obsess over.
Some mornings it’s way down and, honestly, I usually feel pretty beat up too. Other days the number looks good and I feel ready to go. Curious if you guys actually use HRV to adjust training or do you just go by how your body feels and ignore the watch?
I use HRV as more of a huh, interesting metric than something that controls my training. If I wake up feeling good, I’m training regardless.NormanSC77 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2026 12:11 pm Got a new wearable that tracks HRV and now I’ve got another damn number to obsess over.Some mornings it’s way down and, honestly, I usually feel pretty beat up too. Other days the number looks good and I feel ready to go. Curious if you guys actually use HRV to adjust training or do you just go by how your body feels and ignore the watch?
Mine is usually lower after terrible sleep. Not exactly groundbreaking, but it does make me realize how much sleep actually affects recovery.
I stopped checking it daily because I was getting too damn wrapped up in the numbers. Now I just look at the trend every few days.
For me, it’s useful when several things line up. Low HRV + crappy sleep + sore as hell = maybe don't try to PR that morning. One random low reading by itself? I don't care much.
I wear a Garmin and honestly like having the data. Sometimes it catches a rough recovery day before I really notice it. Still, I'm not letting a watch tell me I can't train. 
Yeah, that’s kinda where I’m landing. I was treating every low reading like something was wrong. Now I’m trying to look at the bigger picture sleep, soreness, stress, gym performance and the HRV trend together. Much less stressful that way.
