Heart Rate CV
percentage
Coefficient of variation for heart rate: the day-to-day variability in your average HR expressed as a percentage. Higher values indicate less consistent heart rate patterns over time.
Typical optimal range 0 - 6
Population median 5
Key factors
- Alcohol consumption
- Training load and intensity variation week-to-week
- Illness or immune response
What affects this metric
- Irregular sleep and wake times raise day-to-day variability.
- Travel across time zones and shift work destabilize the pattern.
- Illness and heavy training blocks widen variability before the average moves.
References
Peer-reviewed sources supporting the key factors, contributing factors, and typical optimal range shown above.
- Shaffer F, Ginsberg JP. An overview of heart rate variability metrics and norms. Frontiers in Public Health. 2017;5:258. doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00258
- Plews DJ, Laursen PB, Stanley J, Kilding AE, Buchheit M. Training adaptation and heart rate variability in elite endurance athletes: opening the door to effective monitoring. Sports Medicine. 2013;43(9):773–781. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-013-0071-8
- Pietilä J, Helander E, Korhonen I, Myllymäki T, Kujala UM, Lindholm H. Acute effect of alcohol intake on cardiovascular autonomic regulation during the first hours of sleep. JMIR Mental Health. 2018;5(1):e23. doi.org/10.2196/mental.9519
- Radin JM, Wineinger NE, Topol EJ, Steinhubl SR. Harnessing wearable device data to improve state-level real-time surveillance of influenza-like illness in the USA. The Lancet Digital Health. 2020;2(2):e85–e93. doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30222-5
This guide is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your clinician about your own results.