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More Time To Get Fit - 2025

two wheel tramp said:
my HRV was 20 over night. the average for the week was 26, month/year = 29. we’re talking heart rate variability, yeah?
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Yep yep.

One night of low HRV isn’t concerning - it may just be poor sleep. But when I get 3 nights of low HRV, it’s usually because I’m training really hard. With my structured training, usually I have some rest days or a recovery week scheduled right when I hit that 3rd night.

IME plenty of other things can lower HRV too: Going to bed too late, eating dinner too late, alcohol, falling asleep on the couch then going to bed in the middle of the night, short sleep, sickness, and more.

Garmin gives me a graph for the whole night. Usually, my HRV slowly climbs as I sleep and is high after 5hrs of sleep. So if I go to bed late and/or wake up after only 5hrs, my average is shit. But if I manage a full 8hrs, my avg skyrockets. This also implies that my best sleep comes from hours 5-8.

I’m sure all of these metrics are very personal. If you keep watching the data and notice all these other factors, you can learn your body and actually use it to maximize training and how you feel.
 
stangmx13 said:
Yep yep.

One night of low HRV isn’t concerning - it may just be poor sleep. But when I get 3 nights of low HRV, it’s usually because I’m training really hard. With my structured training, usually I have some rest days or a recovery week scheduled right when I hit that 3rd night.

IME plenty of other things can lower HRV too: Going to bed too late, eating dinner too late, alcohol, falling asleep on the couch then going to bed in the middle of the night, short sleep, sickness, and more.

Garmin gives me a graph for the whole night. Usually, my HRV slowly climbs as I sleep and is high after 5hrs of sleep. So if I go to bed late and/or wake up after only 5hrs, my average is shit. But if I manage a full 8hrs, my avg skyrockets. This also implies that my best sleep comes from hours 5-8.

I’m sure all of these metrics are very personal. If you keep watching the data and notice all these other factors, you can learn your body and actually use it to maximize training and how you feel.
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i had a solid night of sleep. no booze. a little thc before bed but not a ton. my HRV went down and back up.

here’s my sleep chart. dark blue is deep sleep and is almost always on the front end for me.
 

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two wheel tramp said:
my apple watch will show my resting (sleep) heart rate.

when i am on the trainer in granny gear its easy to stay in zones 1 and 2.

thank you for this good advice and info.
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HR zones are tricky. Every platform uses a diff calculation and recommends something different for each training zone. For ex, my Strava Z2 is comparable to Garmin Z3.

A better way to know your endurance zone is the conversation test. The effort/HR/power where you just start to struggle to hold a conversation is the top of your endurance zone. Or you could sing a song. When you start to pause talking to take a deeper breath, that’s the line. Remember that HR and that feeling. Stay below that for non-intense endurance training that is easy to recover from. Everyone can get tons of adaptation and fitness from consistent training in this zone.

One cool thing about this test is that it’s easy to do. So you can always validate if you are still in this zone. Your HR at this feeling will move around. If you are fresh, the HR will be higher. If you are tired or it’s hot outside, the HR will be lower.
 
@stangmx13 I could not have had a convo yesterday. :laughing i actually stopped about 3/4 of the way up my hilly section to take deep breaths and bring my HR down.

i think that loop might remain a once a week harder workout until the mellower trainer rides and flatter outside rides help me build back up.
 
Ya my sleep charts are comparable. Deep early then REM later. I rarely get REM that soon in the night though.

Here’s my HRV and sleep charts for last night. They imply that my HRV is higher during REM.
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(My HRV has always been high - I’m an outlier at 40 years old. It has increased roughly 10% since I started going insane with the cycling, from high 80s to mid 90s. That 87 is low cuz my coach is trying to kill me lol. Plz don’t compare.)
 
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two wheel tramp said:
@stangmx13 I could not have had a convo yesterday. :laughing i actually stopped about 3/4 of the way up my hilly section to take deep breaths and bring my HR down.

i think that loop might remain a once a week harder workout until the mellower trainer rides and flatter outside rides help me build back up.
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Ya that’s a great plan. Almost all my weeks are 1-2 Z4+ workouts and the rest Z2. It’s called polarized training - go hard on your hard days and easy on your easy days.
 
stangmx13 said:
Ya my sleep charts are comparable. Deep early then REM later. I rarely get REM that soon in the night though.

Here’s my HRV and sleep charts for last night. They imply that my HRV is higher during REM.
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(My HRV has always been high - I’m an outlier at 40 years old. It has increased roughly 10% since I started going insane with the cycling, from high 80s to mid 90s. That 87 is low cuz my coach is trying to kill me lol. Plz don’t compare.)
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You = elite athlete.
Me = trying to be an average athlete.

I definitely would not have compared our values. re: CBD or THC I don't know. I am a light user of the stuff. It's all around me and always available and some weeks I might not, others I might a couple of times during the week. I think it also ties into my menstrual cycle for me. (I know, GROSS! :laughing)

@Mike95060 I am sleeping more this year than last and really making it a point to get enough sleep. It's felt great. I operate great on seven hours. Anything under 6 and I am a trainwreck.
 
Love this headline

The Fastest Growing Sport in the US Comes With a Sharp Risk to Your Face​

Pickleball is accessible and fun, but players are ending up with broken eye sockets, detached retinas, and other eye-related injuries.
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gizmodo.com

The Fastest Growing Sport in the US Comes With a Sharp Risk to Your Face

Pickleball is accessible and fun, but players are ending up with broken eye sockets, detached retinas, and other eye-related injuries.
gizmodo.com gizmodo.com

It might be a little sensationalist. The study suspects ~3000 eye injuries between 2014 and 2024 nationwide, for 19M players. That's a pretty low occurrence rate. So maybe keep enjoying your fun exercise and wear some face/eye protection.
 
stangmx13 said:
With my current level of activity, I’d die at 6hrs avg. I only made it through yesterday’s double day because I took a nap at 4pm before my evening ride.

Also Im funemployed rn. :ROFLMAO:
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Im not dead but i probably do 1/3 the exercise you do. :laughing

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stangmx13 said:
@Mike95060 If you meet your sleep need, the bar turns green. Garmin didn't even include the green key under the chart. 😭
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Yeah, I have been a sleep weirdo my whole life. I have tried a lot of different things to stretch that number. Seems like no matter what, I hover around 5-6 hrs per night. I don't use an alarm to get up. If I go to bed earlier I just wake up earlier. Even when I WANT to sleep in, it rarely happens. Oddly enough, according to anyone I have ever shared a bed with, I'm an INCREADIBLY sound sleeper once I'm out. Like, "is he dead?" kinda sleeper. Check out the consistency bars. They may move around a bit, but its rare they get bigger.....


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Mike and I have the same sleep pattern. 6 hours would be wonderful. I’ve been like that since college though.
 
Ridley said:
Mike and I have the same sleep pattern. 6 hours would be wonderful. I’ve been like that since college though.
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Weird aint it? It probably helped when I worked nights and kids were little. Now? WTF, life is chill why I no sleep? Lol

Edit: Garmin peeps, what’s your best training rainbow? I think I have hit everything in the last month.

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Orange and dark orange? Do I need upgraded equipment or better training routines? :laughing
 
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