What is a good HRV?

A good HRV is one that is normal for you. Healthy adults run from under 20 ms to over 100, so a single number can’t be graded. Judge last night against your own last few weeks, on the same device.

Everyone wants a target. The apps show a number, the internet shows charts, and it feels like 70 should beat 40. HRV works more like resting heart rate. A resting pulse of 52 and one of 74 can both be healthy. What matters is the morning yours sits 10 beats above its usual.

What we’d do:

1. Wear one device every night for two to three weeks.
2. Note your usual range.
3. Let single low nights go. Act when your 7-day average sits below that range for a week or more.
4. Over months, a slowly rising average on the same device is the good sign.

What is typical?

These are RMSSD figures, the kind Oura, WHOOP and Garmin report. Apple Watch reports SDNN, a different measurement, so the table doesn’t apply to it.

Half of Oura’s women sit below 36 ms and half of its men below 35. A number in the 20s or 30s is common at every adult age.

Why your own nights beat any chart

Devices disagree even on the same night. In a 2025 overnight test, five wearables were off from a chest strap by 6 to 16 percent on average.

Your own history moves when you change. In 10 runners followed for nine weeks, the weekly average of their HRV lined up closely with how much their 10 km time improved, while single days barely did. An age chart only tells you where you sit among strangers. Your own average tells you what changed.