Strained - HRV low

4442876 8 days ago

Why does my Garmin Forerunner 965 show a lower acute load than usual when my training status is "Strained" with low HRV? Also, why is the suggested recovery time after a workout lower compared to when my HRV is balanced? For example, if I run for an hour at the same speed and distance, the recovery time might be 17 hours now but 23 hours when my HRV is balanced. Shouldn't recovery time be estimated much, much, much higher when HRV is low?

Additionally, why is recovery time below 18 hours always green and above 18 hours orange? I always stress about pushing this recovery time as high as possible because if I don’t, I feel like I haven’t trained "hard enough/good enough." Help me understand this better!!

0 NickMN 8 days ago

Recovery Time is based on the work you have done recently, the HRV being low will be linked to stress/training (so the result of the training)... you will likely notice that the Recovery Time doesn't improve or go away if you sleep less and/or have low HRV. So HRV is a result of your current recovery time and ALSO other stress (drinking, sleep, stress). Your Recovery Time updates over time based on your other stresses. So if you go into a workout with a RT of 7hrs... your new workout adds on. The goal shouldn't be always to have high recovery time needs. Unless you are only working out 1-2x a week. Goal should be to workout regularly with a balanced approach, typically with a HARD and Easy day rotation. Hard, Easy, Easy, Hard . Hard could be intervals, hard steady state, or a very long endurance easy run/bike. Training load and stress is really not accounted for if doing Strength Training (unless your aerobic fitness is very low).