ithlete now links to your Garmin Connect data

Your early morning training readiness check with an HRV tool like ithlete just got a whole lot more interesting for analysis.

With a paid-for ithlete pro account (trial available) you can link to Garmin Connect. ithlete pulls out your in-exercise HRV data.

More info from ithlete: <here>

Although I’ve not had a look and play myself yet, this is a potentially important development with HRV. When I first looked at HRV a couple of years ago I somewhat naively assumed that what ithelte NOW appear to have achieved would have been available then. It wasn’t, from anyone.

Sure there will probably be nothing new in the HRV measures that ithlete use BUT what will be new will be the integration with your existing Garmin HRV data. That just makes things a whole lot easier for ‘normal’ athletes to access. The charts (some included below) also look comprehensible and that is something often lacking from some HRV analysis packages.

The theory goes something like: looking at your training stress/load through power-durations or through time spent in HR zones is all well and good but they are estimates of the physiological cost. HRV should help measure some of the physiological impact. For example, depending on your fatigue state or illness, the exact same workout could have quite a different cost from one week to the next.

Some potential benefits include:

• Assess the real impact of your workout on you;
• Better understand workouts that promote recovery; and
• Manage your taper better.

Note: If you want to try to achieve this from a Polar or Suunto environment by pushing data into shadow Garmin connect account, you might not find it possible.