In a previous article I wrote about the stress value Garmin software computes using HRV (heart rate variability) from a Garmin smartwatch (Vivoactive 4s in my case). Based on if-then observations I theorized alcohol was the cause. One friend I talked with basically responded like this.
After trying a few days without alcohol and then having one tall 6% abv craft beer the stress number did go up.
After that observation I looked for other causes and found that exercise intensity is also a likely cause. My recent gravel bike purchase has me looking at different touring configurations. While watching a bikepacking.com Editors Choice video about best 2022 products, I came across this interesting segment where Neil Beltchenko talks about his elevated heart rate after rides in excess of four hours causing him sleep issues. On a side-note, he found that a CBD softgel formulated for this purpose helped him sleep better.
After a four hour plus ride that included 4300' feet of climbing up to a 6500' summit my stress numbers went up and then stayed elevated for longer than what had been observed on easier days cycling. Here is the chart for that day.
The shaded blue is body battery (BB), orange bars are stress. and the green horizontal bar indicates when I was bike riding While the stress numbers declined into the evening they continued which made it difficult for the BB number to recover. By the morning BB was back to around 75 but even taking the day off from cycling it didn’t recover back to over 90 until the following day.
What does it all mean? From an observational perspective both alcohol and intense exercise elevate the amount and duration of HRV and the computed stress value. From my days working in tech manufacturing and using statistical techniques learned in a Six Sigma Black Belt course, it seems that the data being provided by the Garmin watch could be manipulated in, for example, Minitab software we used for analyzing experiments. Then if the data was gathered and input properly a correlation number could be computed for exercise duration/intensity and alcohol independently and determine if the variables are dependent and cause a multiplicative effect. Hint-hint to the statistical geeks out there that have the needed software and smartwatches.
Based on observing Garmin Connect reports my guess is both alcohol and intense exercise contribute to HRV. There may even be some interaction and a multiplicative effect on HRV when doing both the same day.
My statistical training alerted me to the possibility confirmation bias may be playing a role here. That is the problem with analyzing yourself. It is also why my ears may have perked up when Neil B. talked about HRV and sleep issues in his video mostly about bike gear.
To your good health. Cheers!
