Heart rate variability is a way to measure the changes in time between heartbeats. It shows how the parasympathetic nervous system is working and specifically how the vagus nerve controls the heart. This nerve helps the heart adjust to different situations. Scientists study three things to understand how the vagus nerve works: how it acts when a person is resting, how it responds to challenges, and how it recovers afterward.
These are called the “three Rs”: resting, reactivity, and recovery (Laborde et al., 2017). By studying these, researchers can learn how the vagus nerve affects individuals. According to a theory called the neurovisceral integration model (Thayer et al., 2009), when the vagus nerve is more active, it is good for the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which controls things like decision-making and emotions. It also has an impact on a person’s overall health.
This heart rate variability is also related to many things in sports and exercise psychology, like how aggressive a person is, how they cope with stress, and how well they recover from injuries and training. There are many things that can affect heart rate variability, such as the person’s body, the environment they are in, and how the two interact.
For athletes, there are ways to improve heart rate variability in a positive way. Some of these methods include doing slow-paced breathing exercises and regular aerobic training.
Laborde, S., Mosley, E., & Thayer, J. F. (2017). Heart rate variability and cardiac vagal tone in psychophysiological research – Recommendations for experiment planning, data analysis, and data reporting. Front Psychology, 8, 213. Available from https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00213.
Thayer, J. F., Hansen, A. L., Saus-Rose, E., & Johnsen, B. H. (2009). Heart rate variability, prefrontal neural function, and cognitive performance: The neurovisceral integration perspective on self-regulation, adaptation, and health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37, 141 153.
