Use of HRV in exercise and sports
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) reflects the functioning and balance of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). In sport coaching and fitness testing, HRV can be used as an objective measure of training load and recovery, to support subjective feelings and other performance data. HRV monitoring helps in detecting acute and chronic fatigue, as well as improvement in physical fitness and stress tolerance. Thus, HRV guided recovery monitoring is used by professional athletes in training optimization but can also be used by sports enthusiasts or anyone interested in their wellbeing and recovery.
The gold-standard HRV analysis
Kubios offers reliable and scientifically validated HRV analysis solutions for exercise and sports professionals. Kubios HRV software has achieved a gold-standard status in scientific research, used at roughly 1200 universities in 128 countries. Kubios HRV is a scientifically validated software for heart rate variability analysis and it is widely used by researchers around the world. The software has been developed during the past 20 years and key publications related to the software and its pre-processing algorithms are listed below. These four publications have attracted over 2000 citations and Kubios HRV software has been used in over 4500 scientific publications.
1.
Tarvainen MP et al. An advanced detrending method with application to HRV analysis. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng, 49(2):172-175, 2002.
2.
Niskanen J-P et al. Software for advanced HRV analysis. Comp Meth Programs Biomed, 76(1):73-81, 2004.
3.
Tarvainen MP et al. Kubios HRV – Heart rate variability analysis software. Comp Meth Programs Biomed, 113(1):210-220, 2014.
4.
Lipponen JA & Tarvainen MP. A robust algorithm for HRV time series artefact correction using novel beat classification. J Med Eng & Technol, 43(3):173-181, 2019.
Compatible devices and sensors
To start using HRV measurements in monitoring your training and recovery status, you need a good quality sport watch or similar that can measure inter-beat interval (IBI) data. Kubios HRV software products are compatible with all most commonly used heart rate (HR) monitors, such as Polar, Garmin and Suunto. With our easy-to-use mobile application, which supports several Bluetooth HR sensors, you can accurately monitor your daily readiness level. Our desktop software support a wide variety of devices. If you already have a measurement device or if you are planning to purchase one, you can find a list of data formats and devices that are compatible with Kubios HRV software from Kubios HRV User’s Guide.
Detailed HRV analysis for professionals
Kubios HRV software products were originally designed for scientific research and professional use, thus offering the most detailed HRV analysis on the market. Our proprietary algorithms for parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) indexes provide a powerful tool to evaluate the effects of training load on physiological stress and recovery. Kubios HRV software products provide accurate beat detection, automatic beat correction, over 40 HRV analysis parameters (time-domain, frequency-domain and nonlinear), respiration rate, instantaneous assessment of training impulse (TRIMP) and energy expenditure, and detailed reporting options.
PRODUCTS FOR EXERCISE AND SPORTS
Kubios HRV Premium
Full featured HRV analysis software designed for scientific research and professional use. The Premium version is compatible with several sport watches, ECG and PPG devices, and enables direct export of RR data from Polar Flow. The software features built-in beat detection, automatic beat correction, over 40 HRV analysis parameters, time-varying analysis (including TRIMP and EE), and detailed reporting.
Kubios HRV App
Mobile App having two modes of operation: 1) Daily readiness measurement mode and 2) Custom measurement mode (coming soon). The readiness measurement mode provides an easy-to-use and reliable approach for monitoring physiological recovery. The custom measurement mode (coming soon) will enable you to make short- and longer-term measurements of RR, ECG or PPG data (depending on the sensor) in or outside the lab.
Kubios HRV Analysis Services
Kubios HRV analysis service is a solution for you if you want to integrate Kubios HRV analysis, the gold-standard heart rate variability analysis algorithms validated in hundreds of scientific studies, into your training, sports or exercise application. The readiness analytics provides detailed HRV based readiness analysis, whereas the sport and exercise analytics provides detailed performance analytics and heart rate recovery. In addition, Kubios cloud services offer access to team readiness data if you want to integrate the readiness results, measured with Kubios HRV mobile app, into your team application.