The Secret to Heart Health
The Secret to Heart Health
You can probably count at least a couple of times in your life when you have completed a strenuous task that really pushed your body close to its limit (or maybe even past it). Your heart feels like it’s about to beat right out of your chest, and you’re gasping for air and sweating bullets, but a few minutes later, you recover and you’re back to normal. All of these things are normal reactions that your body has to physical activity, especially those on the more difficult side! But what if I told you that there was a hidden number that not many people know about that not only tells you how healthy your heart is but also how healthy your entire nervous system is? Well, consider it your lucky day because that’s exactly what I’m telling you.
What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)?
When most people think of the measures that look at heart health (cardiovascular health), they will typically think of things like heart rate, resting heart rate, and respiratory rate, which are all correct and very important. However, one measure that is often overlooked purely because it is not as well-known is heart rate variability (HRV). To put it basically, HRV is the variation in the timing of each one of your heartbeats (Tiwari et at., 2020). In reality, your heart does not beat every second on the dot, there is actually some variation – or variability – in the timing of your heartbeats and it is a good sign when there is greater variability. Studies show that in the healthy adult population, the average HRV is about 42 milliseconds, however, it can range all the way from 19 milliseconds (bad) to 72 milliseconds (very good, better than mine). In athletes, it can even reach as high as 120 milliseconds! As you can see, when I say “variability”, I’m talking about the difference of milliseconds, which you would not be able to notice unless you had superhuman abilities.
Why Should I Care About This?
Okay, bear with me here, I’m about to get a little science-y with you. Your nervous system is responsible for basically everything that your body does. It tells your body to breathe, it tells you when you have a giant spider crawling on the side of your leg (just kidding it was the wind), it tells your heart to beat. Your nervous system is divided into two parts, your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). Your SNS is responsible for activating your “fight or flight” response; you see a bear, you start breathing faster, you start sweating, heart rate increases. Your PNS is responsible for your “rest and digest” response; you’re nice and cozy in bed, you’re relaxed, your breathing becomes fuller and deeper, heart rate decreases. Why is that important? Because when your PNS is functioning well, the decrease in heart rate that comes with that allows for more time for variability in your heart rate (also known as HRV). As human beings, we tend to operate with our SNS super elevated and our PNS dragging behind, when ideally, they should be equal.
Now let’s tie everything together and make sense of this jumbled-up mess. So, if our nervous system tells our heart to beat, and HRV looks at the variability in our heartbeats, then HRV also looks at the health of our nervous system (especially the PNS side), which is the health of our entire body! It has been shown that HRV is a good indicator for predicting heart-related diseases such as hypertension, heart attacks, and angina (chest pain). There is even evidence to show that HRV can detect fetal distress during labor, anxiety and depression disorders and infection!
How Can I Track My HRV?
Usually, any kind of smartwatch nowadays will at least tell you your basic metrics such as heart rate, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation. These include products such as the Apple Watch and Fit Bit (not a sponsor). The two products that I currently know of that will tell you your HRV are the Oura ring, and the Biostrap (which is what I personally use, but also not a sponsor).
What Can I Do To Improve My HRV?
Unfortunately, there are some things that are out of our control that decreases HRV such as genetics, and aging. However, there are a lot more things that we can do to improve our HRV! A big change you can make right off the bat has to do with your lifestyle. Long-term and excessive alcohol consumption and smoking has been shown to decrease HRV. Mood disorders and stress are also associated with a lower HRV than normal.
Everyone is different and has different circumstances, so things that you might need to change might not be the same for your neighbor. But there are some universal things that can help. Any avenue in which you are healthily managing and decompressing from all the stressors in your life is very beneficial. For some, this may include activities like yoga, exercise, reading, journaling, meditating, or going on a walk in an area with a lot of greenery. Improving your cardiovascular health through exercise is also very beneficial. The more efficient your body becomes through exercise will directly improve your resting heart rate, respiratory rate, and HRV by association. One other research-backed thing that has personally improved my HRV is the incorporation of dry needling and acupuncture into my recovery routine. Essentially, with those two methods of treatment, we are hi-jacking your body’s nervous system by directly stimulating the areas that are linked to your PNS (the part of your nervous system that is responsible for relaxation).
I know I just threw a whole new world of concepts at you, so if you have any questions about anything, feel free to reach out to have a conversation! Also, two of the avenues for improving HRV – exercise and needling – we happen to do in-house here at Optimum Physio! If you are curious as to what your specific plan would look like to improve your heart health, contact us to set up a FREE screen and we’ll go over every step of the process!
– Dr. Matt
matt@optimumphysiotherapies.com
Disclaimer:
The Optimum Physio Therapies blog is intended for educational use only. This is not intended for specific medical advice on diagnosis, treatment, or any other course of action. Please contact your physician with any pertinent questions, or in case of an emergency.
Sources:
- Tiwari, Reena, et al. “Analysis of Heart Rate Variability and Implication of Different Factors on Heart Rate Variability.” Current Cardiology Reviews, vol. 16, Dec. 2020, https://doi.org/10.2174/1573403×16999201231203854.
- Butt, Mohsin F., et al. “The Anatomical Basis for Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation.” Journal of Anatomy, vol. 236, no. 4, Apr. 2020, pp. 588–611, 10.1111/joa.13122.