Strange HRV spikes and Recovery Drop

General
1

Recently I had two very large spikes in my HRV, 143 and 134, when my avg HRV for 6 months is 49. 1. is this likely an error in the hardware/software and 2. since then my recoveries are very low even when all my metrics are within range.

Is this a system issue? Can I reset this if so?

Thanks

2

Hey there! This is definitely an interesting case - those are big spikes in HRV. I have a few thoughts from a scientific perspective:

  • I would not automatically blame an error with the sensor. While big HRV spikes like this are rare, they can happen from time to time. That said, I would make sure that your strap is tight (so it is very difficult to fit a finger under it) and that it is positioned 1-2 inches above your wrist (if wearing on the wrist) to optimize signal quality.
  • There are physiological reasons why your HRV could have spiked up like this. In general, when analyzing HRV trends we want to see a stable trend; lots of spikes and dips can indicate that your body is overly stressed and trying to recover physically or psychologically. After a stressful event, illness, or heavy training, a spike could reflect a rebound parasympathetic activation as the body shifts toward recovery, pushing your HRV very high. If you trained very hard or had very stressful events around these spikes, that is likely the cause - and it means your body needs to recover and recharge. This means that you may want to listen to those low recoveries to prepare for harder training later!
  • During the period following the spikes, I would suggest monitoring your HRV and trying to keep it stable by following a routine that works for you. If it is still jumping all over the place, it could be a larger sign of overtraining, which may mean taking a closer look at your training and lifestyle.

All in all, I wouldn’t worry too much about these spikes. Whether caused by hard training or measurement irregularities, isolated events like these should probably not change your routine too much - its the trends that matter. Your Recovery scores should normalize within a week or two!