Recent articles and updates [April 2024]
heart rate variability, wearables, entrepreneurship, training talk and some ramblings
hi there 👋
I hope all is well.
Here is my newsletter including articles and updates from April 2024. I hope you’ll find it useful and I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your support.
Please feel free to comment below or in the articles should you have any questions, and I will follow up soon.
Take care!
Heart rate variability (HRV) 🫀
Tips on using HRV to adjust training or behavior. I have recently been asked how I use the data once I have collected it, in the context of adjusting training or behavior. Here are some thoughts based on my experience, after many years.
Measuring intentionally. All I wanted from a wearable was to simply let me take a snapshot whenever I want, intentionally, so that I can make sure it is high quality and meaningful (knowing the context), as opposed to automating everything and providing me with poor-quality data, and even poorer insights. An old Coros Pace 2, combined with HRV4Training, does the job pretty weel. Learn more, here.
How to assess the validation of a device for HRV analysis. A few weeks ago I was reading a paper describing the development of earbuds using ballistocardiography (BCG) to measure heart rate variability (HRV), and then estimate stress. BCG tends to provide lower quality data with respect to electrocardiography (ECG) but also photoplethysmography (PPG), or optical sensing typically used in phones and wearables. The data collected with the earbuds is indeed of very poor quality, demonstrating how this technology cannot be trusted for HRV analysis, despite the claims. Learn how to better assess the validation of a device, here.
Wearables ⌚️
Making Sense of Wearables Data. A few months ago I was invited in Chicago to speak at the GSSI Sport Science Expert Panel. My talk was about wearables, and in particular covering the framework I have proposed to make better use of these tools (understanding differences between measurements and estimates as well as the impact of behavior vs your physiological response, to start with). I had a great time at the event, meeting brilliant individuals, and having many stimulating conversations. I'll take this opportunity to thank you again for inviting me and for a lovely few days (including some good running!). Check out my article, which I have recently written for GSSI, and where I cover the topics I've discussed in my talk, here.
Podcasts, Talks, and Papers 🎙️
Book chapter: Individualizing Training Procedures with Wearable Technology. How Data Can Capture Recovery: The Case for Heart Rate Variability. It was a pleasure to contribute to this book, which aims to provide practical tips on using sensor data and wearables to individualize training. My chapter - surprise surprise - is about heart rate variability (HRV). I hope you'll find it useful. Special thanks to Peter Duking for involving me and working with me on the draft. You can find the book here and my chapter here.
Podcast: How to Use Heart Rate Variability for Training | #46 ft. Marco Altini. From the episode description, written by Philip Batterson: “In this episode of the Critical Oxygen podcast, Dr. Marco Altini and I discuss heart rate variability (HRV) and its applications in optimizing physiology and athletic performance. Dr. Altini emphasizes the importance of measuring HRV consistently and understanding individual baseline values and trends. When choosing an HRV device, it is important to consider the accuracy and reliability of the measurements. Dr. Altini also highlights the significance of stability and resilience in HRV, rather than focusing solely on higher values”. Episode link, here.
Building 🛠️
Aerobic Endurance Analysis Update: I've added Aerobic Efficiency and Cardiac Decoupling to each individual workout on the Aerobic Endurance Analysis page in HRV4Training Pro. Learn more here and check out an example of how you can use this feature to analyze short-term changes due to fatigue here.
Ramblings and rants 🤌
A few tweets that didn’t make it into a blog post just yet:
Pace (min/km) vs heart rate for a zone 2 effort in 2017 and 2024. In between, training.
More evidence that in the context of training, you should measure your physiology while seated. Otherwise, just save the time (and money). Sorry, wearables.
Abnormally high HRV. No, it’s not a good sign and AI is pretty dumb. Have I said already that you could save money?
Training adaptations take time. Do the work, and see how your body responds.
I was in Boston. It was fun.
It’s all about the people. Thank you for being part of the journey.
Mom is climbing and I love it. It’s never too late.
Training talk 🏃🏻♂️🚴
Training Talk: Zone 2 marathons and using races as training. As I build towards the 100 km del Passatore, I have planned to use a few races as training (two marathons and a 50 km in about two weeks). I aimed at limiting the effort to Zone 2, to make sure I could recover quickly and keep training for my main event. In this post, I cover the first two events, looking at differences in internal load and performance, and how we can use the Aerobic Endurance feature in HRV4Training Pro to capture some of these differences, as well as recovery between events, and the effect of other stressors (e.g. traveling, the heat, etc.). Learn more, here.
Training log. As the name says, this is simply my training diary for this year.
That’s a wrap for this month.
Thank you for reading, and see you next month.
Recent newsletters:
Marco holds a PhD cum laude in applied machine learning, a M.Sc. cum laude in computer science engineering, and a M.Sc. cum laude in human movement sciences and high-performance coaching.
He has published more than 50 papers and patents at the intersection between physiology, health, technology, and human performance.
He is co-founder of HRV4Training, advisor at Oura, guest lecturer at VU Amsterdam, and editor for IEEE Pervasive Computing Magazine. He loves running.
Social:
Twitter: @altini_marco.
Personal Substack.
Super!! What do you mean by low intensity high volume so as not to impact HRV? Often after a short race (about 1 hour and a half) I follow two days of high volume doing bike rides with a low heart (below 130bpm) ... do I mean something like that?
Great insightful read Marco 🫶🏻