1. Measurements immediately following each other must give the same result

Here we encounter one of the biggest physiological/methodological problems, which specifically relates to HRV monitoring. Millisecond differences between RR intervals are measured, which are affected by even slight changes in the state of the organism. The greater the standardization of the measurement process in terms of time, body position, external conditions, etc., the better the comparable results. mySASY uses the principle of the so-called postural maneuver during monitoring (changing the position from lying down to standing and back to lying down), which primarily helps to identify the activity of the activation (stress/consumption) part of the monitored (ANS) system, which is one of the basic added values of mySASY compared to others HRV systems. This "maneuver" enables mySASY to have a good and standardized evaluation, with which almost 1 million measurements have already been performed. However, this postural maneuver can affect (significantly for HRV monitoring) the subsequent state of the monitored system (for example, similar to if you did some more demanding exercise or drank coffee = activates Consumption (sympathetic), which logically can affect the results of the following measurement.

 

2. Subjectively filled data (questionnaire after measurement) into mySASY affect the results.

This myth is difficult to disprove, because the only thing that can be done in this area is that everyone, from the author of the entire methodology to all programmers, can "swear" that it is not the case :) To clarify: the values of Compensation, Functional Age, and all parameters shown on the "My HRV" graph (refuelling, consumption, total power and total score) are calculated "only" based on the monitoring of the RR interval and processing with HRV spectral analysis. The only part into which the information from the questionnaire completed after the measurement is reflected is the "interpretive sentence/paragraph = verbal assessment" listed under the Compensation value. The purpose of this is to place the measured values in the context of other external factors that influence the current state of the organism and thus "tell" the user what could be behind the fact that the current values were measured.

 

3. When the result does not match my feelings, it is a mistake.

It isn't. If the result should ALWAYS correspond to subjective feelings, it would be necessary to recognize that the measurement is completely useless. And of course that's not true :) At the same time, it's good to say that monitoring subjective feelings during and in response to training is important, and we wouldn't recommend replacing it completely with any measurement. The optimal approach consists of a combination of tracking subjective feelings and objective measurement. Thanks to this, you will also find that there can be a big difference between the subjective perception of local fatigue of an individual muscle group and the capacity of the central nervous system, represented by HRV, to respond even more positively to additional loads. Ideally, however, omitting locally overloaded muscle groups. It is the detection and use of when and due to which the discrepancy between the subjective perception of fatigue and its measured manifestation arises that brings a fundamental competitive advantage to those who are measured. It is this that can contribute to higher performance progression.

You can find more about this issue in the article - HERE

 

4. Smart watches measure HRV over a longer period of time, even overnight, and this is more accurate

HRV monitoring using "smart watches" today still has limits, which the manufacturers do not brag about. The problem with optical (watch) sensors remains the accuracy of measuring the distance of the RR interval, requiring the ability to measure to 0.001s. With advances in technology, manufacturers are emerging whose sensors approach the required accuracy (https://valencell.com/). We know something about this, because we have been testing one such sensor very promisingly for several months. However, this does not apply to all optical sensors of all prestigious manufacturers that work with HRV. An even more significant myth is that their longer measurements MUST yield more accurate measurements. This alludes to one essential, but very little known/presented fact. HRV measurement (sensing and evaluation of EACH RR interval) and its processing is very demanding for watches due to their limited computing and, above all, energy capacity of current batteries. The watch pretends to process and evaluate the recording 24/7, but that is not true at all. If that were the case, users would basically wake up with a dead watch. In most cases, "smart algorithms" search for and set a "suitable time" for measuring and processing the recording. In it, the processing of a short section, lasting a few minutes at most, takes place. Unlike mySASY, where you can influence exactly when and under what conditions the measurement takes place, with a watch you usually cannot influence the evaluation time, and this can be a major problem and a factor of distortion.

More details about the mySASY methodology in the article - HERE

 

5. There must always be a day of rest or active regeneration after a heavy load.

As shown by the results of mySASY, but above all by the personal experiences of many users, this myth is not a rule either. Above all, for an excellently trained organism, it is not an exception to be able to complete a demanding load in several consecutive days without any significant decrease in adaptation capacity. Why shouldn't it be? After all, one of the basic goals of physical training is to build the ability of the organism to quickly adapt to high loads and thus the ability to repeatedly perform demanding physical performance.

 

Because we are interested in your questions and opinions, we are planning another similar article in the future, where you choose the topic / questions yourself in a poll (or link) on our social networks.

If you have any specific questions, do not hesitate to contact us - support@mysasy.com

We appreciate you being with us ;).

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