Heart rate recovery HRRc

In some cases, workouts auto pause when there is no movement.

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Good morning every one,
I am new on Intervals and I am trying to understand how it works.

I don’t understand what Nbr I have to set for the HRRc Min Hr to have the correct calculation.

I understand that it is related to the max recovery from the Threshold HR recovery in 60s.

This is my setting:
Threshold HR 151
Max HR 165
HRRc Min Hr 151

Are the HRRc settting correct?

Thank you and sorry for my english

Marco

The settings are okay.

The best recovery value (HRRc) for any effort >151bpm for >1 minute in duration will then show.

Here is an example:

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It surprises me that there’s such a huge gap between “good” and “excellent” HRRc. It’s also beyond my imagination of what a 50-60 beats drop would look like (just got my first ever HRRc number and just start to learn about it). I’m curious if there are any known HRRc numbers from anyone in the elite peloton for reference?

Hi David,
as it is right now, HRRc is computed only for the one interval where the drop in HR is max.
I wonder if it weren’t a great idea to show (quantify) the decrease for all intervals that fullfill the criteria (HR above some threshold and then a drop of at least xY).
That way you could see a range of values, which could be especialy useful when you do a set of similar intervals.
The one max that is shown today could be an erroneous HR reading…
Cheers
Hauke

It is possible to do that with a custom interval field using Javascript:

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Hey, I know its an old topic but I was searching for some ref values about HRRc. I think I can give you an example (HRRc 1min after an Half Cooper)

It’s probably even higher because your HR was clipped. Plot HR RAW and check if it is an artefact or real value. Given the length of the clipping, I suspect it is real and your HRmax was set too low.


The raw data but I can assume its an artefact bcs I dont know someone that has 214 as max HR. So I prefer thinking my HRmax is 198 :sweat_smile: btw the rest was sit down on the ground and Im 23 YO.

It would be considered an outlier, but it’s certainly not impossible.
Did you get the 198 by historical data or did you use the 220 - age formula?
The form of the curve does not really make sure if it is an artefact or not. Do you have multiple occurrences of similar values?
Here’s a chart from an older study. The straight black line defines the 220 - age.

If you want to read the article that goes with it:

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Seeing that chart, reminds me of this tweet.
https://x.com/StephenSeiler/status/1636277639311663104

My first approches was 220-age but I modified by 198 bcs I saw it sometimes during my training, but If you want I can give you much more information about my HR I have a lot of data since I started to train. By the way, you can Check my ICU or my Suunto account, they are public

Same issue. When I try to set HRRc to 40 I get message “LT HR must be between 80 and 220”.
hr_settings
As you can see from prtscr, my Threshold HR is 158, Max HR is 174. Bur I am unable to set HRRc to 40. What should I set LTHR 158 - HRRc 40 = 118 or maybe Max HR 174 - HRRc 40 = 134?

This is the minimum heartrate where HRRc algorithm shall be triggered to calculate the value. It’s fine if you set it to your threshold HR

Quite possible you’ve misunderstood the value’s intent.
The HRRc Min HR value does not mean that you set it at the HR you want the “delta” to be. It’s the threshold where the HRRc value will start counting / calculating when your HR crosses that value.

eg:
your threshold = 157
your max = 174
HRRc Min HR = 157
HRRc will trigger to start calc when your HR crosses the HRRc Min HR number, so if your workout you cross the threshold and reach a max of say 170, then it will start calc. (because you crossed 157)

but if another workout, you only reach 150bpm. In this case the HRRc won’t calc as it does not surpass the HRRc number

There are some conditions:

  1. It must be above the value set on the settings page, to trigger the calculation.
  2. You have to push your HR above your threshold value (zone 4) - see the chart below where HR drifts up into Z4 (158bpm).
  3. Providing there’s 60-seconds of recorded HR, after the HR drops, after conditions 1-2 are met, it will calculate the HRRc value. This is the best HRRc value for the activity.

HRRc measures how quickly you recover after a hard effort. It is the largest drop in HR over 60 seconds starting from a HR of at least threshold. The general idea is that, the faster or greater your drop in heart rate, the better your recovery - www.pezcyclingnews.com. This setting controls the minimum HR required to trigger the calculation.

In my example above, my HRRc value is set to 140bpm (A), while Z4 starts at 158bpm (B). It activates the calculation at 140bpm, but only starts at 158bpm. It then records the 60-sec drop in HR as indicated by the HRRc red shaded area, providing there is no other “best” value recorded elsewhere.

For those with Garmin, not sure about other brands, they use 2-mins, but you have to keep the activity (on the watch/device) active to see their version of HRRc. Don’t stop recording your activity until 2-mins have elapsed.

I have doubts about how useful / reliable this HRRc stat can be. One reason was mentioned above: the value will differ depending on whether you are at complete rest or continue the activity at a lower effort after reaching the threshold. Also, the value will differ depending on the load leading up to reaching the threshold (HRRc will be higher if it is calculated at the start of a workout when you are still fresh as compared to calculating it at the end of a long workout when you are fatigued). In clinical settings, HRRc is generally calculated at complete rest after 1 min or 2 mins (don’t think it matters very much which one is used, as long as you stick to one) following the end of a maximal stress test (e.g. Bruce protocol). Tracking improvements in HRRc is much more reliable when it is measured in a standardised test like this. I don’t see how it will be possible to reliably track changes in HRRc over time if the variables mentioned above aren’t controlled in some way.

In my opinion, the best thing would be a HRRc estimate similar to Apple’s ‘Cardio Recovery’. Essentially, it is an estimate calculated from HHRc after an activity is stopped, and it is robust to the various levels of exertion across a users workouts. The estimate would be further improved by taking into account the activity load, and the physical position of the person after the activity is ended (e.g. standing vs sitting).

I don’t think I would ever advocate to use HRRc for every workout, and try compare it when there are so many variables. Testing is always about trying to replicate the test under similar conditions, and it doesn’t have to be lab conditions as we don’t ride/race in a lab. This specific metric is automatically detected based on meeting certain conditions, which is variable, and also adjustable, i.e. the minimum level can be set up or down.

Yep I agree with that. To clarify, I wasn’t suggesting that it can only be reliable (for purpose of comparison or tracking improvement) if it’s measured in a lab. Rather, was saying that it can only be reliable if the test always follows the same protocol and under similar conditions.

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Conversely, the implemented method gives you a variable from every workout that you exceed LT heartbeat.

As a singular measure you are right, it’s pretty useless. I actually chart it out in my Fitness. As an overall trend, I think it’s helpful to correlate with how I feel overall and what my fitness is doing. It’s a bit like HRV. It can be useful information in the larger picture.