Taking heart rate variability to the next level in sports: towards a multi-signal integration

TL;DR

This paper explores how combining heart rate variability with other signals can improve sports performance and health monitoring.

Contribution

The paper proposes integrating HRV with accelerometry, blood pressure, and ventilatory data for better sports and health applications.

Findings

Integrating HRV with complementary signals can enhance fatigue and intensity assessment in sports.

Mass data usage could enable precise health monitoring for the general public.

Multi-signal integration may revolutionize HRV applications in both elite and recreational sports.

Abstract

Heart rate variability (HRV) is most often used as a standalone, without integration of complementary data. Yet these data are at our fingertips, and a revolution might be just around the corner. This perspective article gives insight on how integrating accelerometery and continuous blood pressure and extracting ventilatory variables may improve the use of HRV, taking it to a whole new level for elite and recreational sports, assessing fatigue, and intensity domains. Also, the use of mass data could lead to seamless measurements as precise and relevant as in elite sports, which could be made available to the public for health assessment and follow-up.