Boris Shkolnikov, our CTO and triathlete, shows by his own example how Engy Health helps to find a balance between sports, health, business and family every day.
How do I analyze my HRV scores with Engy Health?
I am looking at RMSSD initially. RMSSD is the HRV (Heart Rate Variability) recognized in sports physiology as an indicator of the body's recovery in training conditions. I work with RMSSD according to the standard methodology: an increase in RMSSD indicates an increase in recovery and the body's readiness to adapt to a greater load, a decrease in RMSSD is a decrease in adaptation to a load.
Here is an example of my RMSSD graph in Engy Health service and my interpretation of the data on history:
My norm, it's the baseline or baseline. The training process is in progress.
An increase in RMSSD indicates an adaptation to the training process and an increase in physical fitness. I decide to increase the load.
The usual training process is in progress. The graph shows a drawdown somewhere after training (especially at high intensity), somewhere a set. These are natural fluctuations, the task is to stay in the blue corridor and slightly raise it (the norms are adapted daily according to the results of measurements).
From 06.06 poor health, weakness, lack of desire to train. Contrary to self-feeling, he forbade himself to be lazy and went to a tempo running workout, ran 23 km at a pace of 4: 45 min / km. Result: the next day, the regular drop is even lower, the body broke down and the lower limit of the norm was broken, which is one of the main indicators of the need for rest and recovery.
I return to light training in a week. I start with minimal loads, followed by growth.
Work trips began: I don't sleep well, I miss workouts, alcohol and stress from tooth extraction. The form degrades before our eyes.
The period of working trips is over. I give myself a few days of rest. The life regime has returned to normal. In addition, I learned that the half in Kaliningrad will still take place, which gives an additional charge of motivation not to lose everything that was recruited in the offseason. According to the RMSSD schedule, I see that the body is ready for an increase in the load, I am intensively preparing for the start. I do heavy interval work as well as long-term aerobic workouts, bricks (lead + run).
So that the 7-day trend, indicated by the lilac line, goes upward or, at least, stabilizes at the same level: it means that my body is coping with the load
To keep the 7-day trend within the corridor of blue lines - my individual 30-day RMSSD norm. In this case, I am stabilized.
Sometimes I encounter a situation when the daily RMSSD falls below the corridor. For me, this is a reason to reduce the workload and find the reasons: a busy work schedule, flights, inappropriate diet, lack of sleep.
Correction of loads with RMSSD is a sign of a reasonable attitude to one's health and correct correction of the load during training and preparation for competitions.
What metrics do I also look at for a comprehensive understanding of the load level?
CV (RMSSD fluctuation rate over 7 days)
This indicator shows the spread of RMSSD over the last 7 days. The higher it is, the more unstable my recovery is, the lower it is, the more stable I am. An increase or stabilization in RMSSD should be accompanied by a decrease in CV. I marked these periods with the green squares below.
Naturally, when the CV “wobbles” in a new training cycle and during interval training, however, it is desirable to narrow the CV when approaching the start. There are studies showing improvement in speed performance in control races with low CV. In the Engy Health application, CV can be seen either on a separate graph or directly on the RMSSD chart - after all, the narrowing of the "blue" channel, consisting of the upper and lower norms, is a decrease in CV.
Balance LF / HF
LF is an indicator that indicates the state of the sympathetic system, which is responsible for tension and mobilization of forces in the body. HF is an indicator of the parasympathetic system responsible for recovery and rest. The LF / HF ratio should strive for balance, that is, ideally to 1. I look at this optional indicator for myself to determine the readiness of the body for training "in the moment".
Summing up. What does Engy Health give me?
When you start tracking the RMSSD indicator, and then try to imagine the training process without it, you realize how good it is that it still exists. This is a qualitatively new level in the control of your training and load. When there are objective numbers, you can analyze and approach the process intelligently, intellectually, and not “by feeling”. For myself, I see the following advantages of the service:
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