As a health-conscious person, I like to keep track of my heart rate variability (HRV). For those who don’t know, HRV is a measure of the variation in time between each heartbeat. It offers better insight into the body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) and also plays a vital role in tracking stress levels. Thankfully, Apple Watch enables me to measure HRV data with both higher accuracy and convenience. If you are yet to get the most out of this health and fitness feature, now is the right time to learn how to measure and monitor heart rate variability using Apple Watch and iPhone.
Before starting with the step-by-step breakdown, it would be better to know how it all works on watchOS and iOS:
Apple Watch takes advantage of the standard deviation of beat-to-beat measurements captured by the heart rate sensor to calculate HRV. As of now, watchOS only allows users to measure heart rate variability data using the stock Breathe app on Apple Watch. To check the HRV data, users have to take the help of the Health app for iPhone. As for compatibility, it requires watchOS 4 and iOS 11 or later. One more thing worth mentioning first up is that it’s validated for users who are over 18 years old. With that said, let’s get started with the guide!
Note: It’s also worth noting that watchOS automatically mutes some notification when you are using the Breathe app. Do keep in mind that if you move too much or answer a call during the breathing session, watchOS won’t give you any credit.
View Your Heart Rate Variability in Health App on iPhone
- Launch Health app on your paired iPhone.
Delete Your HRV Data Using Health App on iPhone
If you don’t want to keep the HRV data on your iPhone any longer for any personal reason, you can choose to wipe it out with ease. Apple lets you remove specific Health data from iPhone.
