How to use HRV4Training with an Apple Watch

HRV4Training can now be used to read HRV data from the Health app, convert that data (SDNN) to Recovery Points (a more readable metric), and analyze your physiology similarly to what we normally do when you measure using the phone camera or an external Bluetooth sensor. You can learn more about this feature in this blog post, while below we go more practical on how to use your Watch with our app.

Due to some limitations in the way apps can communicate with the Apple Watch, you need to follow the following steps in order to gather meaningful data:

1. Select Health as data source under Menu / Settings, then authorize HRV4Training to read HRV data from Health, when automatically prompted
2. When you wake up, take a measurement using the Breathe app on your Apple Watch
3. Right after, open the HRV4Training app on your phone, tap 'Read from Health' from the main screen, and that's it. We'll be doing the math and prompting you with the usual Tags to fill in, so that you can add context around your measurements.

If you do not get your data in Health right after using the Breathe app, try to synch your Apple Watch and it will show up a few seconds afterwards.
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Always remember that context is key, so while the Apple Watch writes somewhat random HRV numbers also during the day or night, that data could be affected by artifacts, and it is always decontextualized.

​To properly interpret physiology, data must be acquired under standard, reproducible conditions, and the best way to do so is with a measurement as soon as you wake up, or with a night long measurement (not just a minute or two over a night). 

Enjoy!

FAQ

What are Recovery Points? A more human friendly HRV score. For more information, read this.

How can you use SDNN instead of rMSSD to generate Recovery Points? SDNN captures physiological stress similarly to rMSSD hence it can be used in a similar manner. For more information, read this.

How accurate is the Apple Watch in measuring HRV? Very accurate, provided you stay completely still and use the Breathe app to take a measurement. For more information, read this. 

When should I use the Breathe app to take a measurement? First thing in the morning.

How much time do I have after measuring with the Breathe app, to fill in my tags in HRV4Training? You have one hour. When you tap 'read from Health' we always check only the last hour, and see if we can find any HRV scores in the Health app, then take the last one. For this reason, we highly recommend reading data right after you have measured. 

Why can I see only Recovery Points and Heart rate instead of all HRV features when using the Apple Watch to measure? The Apple Watch does not provide us with RR intervals that could be used to compute different features, but only with SDNN. Hence, other features cannot be computed, apart from the Recovery Points that we show in the app. 

​Should I use the Watch or the camera? While the watch provides accurate data under ideal conditions, the metrics reported are limited with respect to the ones we can compute directly using the camera or a bluetooth sensor. Similarly, having no access to RR intervals or raw data, we need to trust Apple to correctly identify and remove potential artifacts. Hence the camera still remains our preferable method, unless you find it uncomfortable or are experiencing any issues.