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HRV is Still Garbage

I can't pinpoint which update started this issue with HRV, but it's clearly wrong. It went from being in the 80-90 range to 50-60 range overnight, and has been steadily declining seemingly nightly for months. I'll have high sleep scores, with an avg HRV being in the 40s, which is ridiculous. At this point, I think my HRV would be higher while awake than it is during my sleep. Like many of the 955 issues, this feature is integral to how the rest of the data is utilized making the watch more of an inconvenience than anything else. 

I've posted about this before and keep waiting for updates that explain or provide a fix to no avail. I bet more users are experiencing this than known as most people don't understand the data they're looking at in the first place. Beyond frustrating. I was happier with my 935. 

EDIT: I commented this within the post, but figured I'd add an edit as well:

Ok, so, to anyone here having a similar problem and not just here to get off on telling people what they think HRV is (thanks for that btw), the factory reset seemed to work.

It is true: with the new update Physio True Up saves your HRV data and a factory reset won't erase this data, but it did seem to fix the problem. In the days after the reset, my HRV trended back to normal, above what has become my "baseline" due to months of incorrect numbers, and it now has a normal relationship to stress, HR, etc based on training. Again, nothing else about my training or daily life has changed - this was 100% an issue with a previous update. 

If you're having this problem, or may think your HRV numbers don't accurately reflect what you're experiencing, try a factory reset. Hopefully that helps you out.

  • The only reason I'm holding onto it is the GPS. If it wasn't the most accurate GPS watch on the market, there's no way I'd even think about keeping it. Put the same GPS capability in a Shark, and I buy that. Everything else is frivolous and inaccurate. It being the "best" at being inaccurate doesn't mean it's worth $600...

  • I’ve experienced same thing, going from 70-80s to 50s. Although I’ve been more tired and not having the same pop and motivation as before the dip. Hard for me to say which one to “blame”. 

  • Actually that didn't "save" mine as I've found that for my running needs my Venu 2 is equally as good GPS wise and even better on the track oddly enough. Sure the 955 has the track mode (like all recent Forerunners) to "force" the 400 meter distance but the V2 reaches within <1% of that distance without it and I often run on a 350 meter track where the 955 gets it wrong by a good 3%. Sure, in deep urban canyons (where I practically never run) the 955 shows "nicer" tracks but strangely the pace is not that much better with 5'/km 1km laps varying wildly from 5'25 to 4'40/km on both.

  • 80-90 percent of my runs are in the mountains and forests with lots of tree/rock cover. It's made a big difference in accuracy that I'm not sure I'm willing to give up. Just sucks that I feel like I can't trust any of the other data. Luckily I'm on my own training program so I'm not using the watch to suggest workouts, but if I was it would feel pretty pointless. 

  • Mine seems fairly accurate, HR and HRV trend negatively (low hr, high HRV - high Hr, low HRV) I have seen dips in my HRV but they are always associated with increased HR.  I absolutely love the metric and use it to make better life choices and have seen improvements (less drinking, better food choices, eating earlier, i could go on), but I would almost NEVER use it to guide my training. I have had so many amazing runs when garmin says "rest" or "recover" and to me this is where you might be going wrong. You could have amazing recovery, great (low) stress, great sleep, watch thinks you should go for a threshold run, but you are injured, or your legs are very sore. Are you still going to go do it? The inverse is true as well. There are days where my sleep according to Garmin was ***, my BB is low, but my legs feel absolutely amazing, and I go out and kill it!

    If for some reason HR and HRV are not inversely correlated for you I would imagine a hardware issue and just ask Garmin for a new watch. This can easily be seen in the data. If you need a coach, get one, no watch will substitute that. 

  • I have similar experience to you. It seems largely in line , but its all only additional inputs into a whole sphere of data , especially how one actually feels... 

  • Back in Nov., the FW update got timed as I got out of surgery. My HRV tanked as a result. Prior to that update, I averaged mid-60s. After the update 20-30, only goes up 70+ when I get steady atrial fibrillation episodes post-surgery. It's never gone back to balanced. Baseline takes forever to see these big changes. It still could very well be the procedure I got (pulmonary vein isolation ablation to treat the AFib) and still waiting for full recovery. 

    I got the 14.13 update yesterday. The morning report this morning was missing all sorts of data.  It looks like it decided to reset the HRV status for me. It's now recalculating the baseline for the next 3 weeks.  Hopefully mine will go back into balance.

    Anyone else's HRV get reset?

  • I've already said I'm on my own training plan. Not only do I have a coach, but I'm a coach myself. I'm not using any of the data to dictate how I should train or what I should be doing day to day - I don't trust any of the data provided, which is the whole problem. None of what you said excuses an advertised metric that works poorly. The watch is expensive, it should work in accordance with what I know my body to do be doing if that's how it's designed and that's what myself (and all of us) are paying for. Otherwise, I'd purchase a different device. I've never seen so many people shrug off so many issues with a device that costs this much... 

    And to reiterate, the watch was working properly when it was first purchased, at least as far as the HRV metric was concerned, so I don't believe it's a hardware issue. Right now, it's keeping me in the "unbalanced range" while also steadily dropping what my balanced range should be, but it never lets my HRV catch up - it continues to drop and keep me unbalanced. So, both the range and the actual HRV numbers are dropping with no measurable cause. 

  • Right, and that "whole sphere of data" is largely connected to what the device says your heart is supposedly doing....

  • I'll be very honest, had a Garmin 955 Solar and sold it last week. I'm using the T rex 2 with dual band and GPS even better than the 955.