How does heart rate variability (HRV) react to heavy physical load (such as an hour of athletic activity)?
The HRV reacts in a highly sensitive manner to very different loads, especially to physical exertion. It decreases as the pulse rises („sympathicotonic condition”). Then it remains low until the body has largely recovered. This can last up to 24 hours (depending on the workload performed). If the HRV has still not normalized after this amount of time, this may indicate a „state of overtraining”. In this case, affected persons usually feel tired and their condition worsens with additional training. Regular HRV measurements are therefore appropriate for recognizing a „state of overtraining” relatively quickly and countering it with sufficient rest or adjustment of the training load.
