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A Heart-y HabitWillpower, Habits, and Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Show-and-Tell SessionQuantified Self Conference
June 2015Mark Leavitt
A Heart-y HabitWillpower, Habits, and Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Show-and-Tell SessionQuantified Self Conference
June 2015Mark Leavitt
Three things I was taught
“Eat all your food”
“Be careful, don’t get hurt”
“Study hard, go to college”
Fifty years laterHad eaten lots of food(weight 195#, BMI 29)
Never got hurt(because I was completely sedentary)
Definitely followed the college advice
So my challenge was to…
Extinguish lifelong bad eating habits
Build new exercise habits
So my challenge was to…
Extinguish lifelong bad eating habits
Build new exercise habits
…by trying to use what I’d learned in college
My QS “virtuous feedback loop”
Plan
Track
Analyze
Refine
What I track
Plan
Track
Analyze
Refine
ActivitiesWeight
StrengthHealth
Heartbeat
The heart’s accelerator and brake pedals
Sympathetic (“speedup”) system:• Fight, flee, or fume!
Parasympathetic (“pause”) system:• Relax, refresh, and rebuild
Slower
Faster
Heart rate variability (HRV) is a good sign -- the pedals are not stuck
0.64 sec 1.0 sec
HRV research findings• Predicts recovery from illnesses• Measures fitness/resilience • Correlates with willpower tests• Certain HRV measures increase in
mindfulness/meditation practice
HRV research findings• Predicts recovery from illnesses• Measures fitness/resilience • Correlates with willpower tests• Certain HRV measures increase in
mindfulness/meditation practice
Could HRV measure my day-to-day willpower?
Stage I: Commercial HRV sensor• Daily 3-8 minute session• emWave2– Initially, at fingertip– Later, used ear clip
• Some issues and hassles• Upload, hack, extract, merge
Stage I: Commercial HRV sensor• Daily 3-8 minute session• emWave2– Initially, at fingertip– Later, used ear clip
• Some issues and hassles• Upload, hack, extract, merge
Stage II: DIY wireless HRV sensor
• More accurate (EKG-based)• Tiny, pocketable, months of battery life• No sound or lights to disrupt session• Wireless (Bluetooth LE)• Memorizes session data• Upload directly to my tracking software
Stage II: DIY wireless HRV sensor
• More accurate (EKG-based)• Tiny, pocketable, months of battery life• No sound or lights to disrupt session• Wireless (Bluetooth LE)• Memorizes session data• Upload directly to my tracking software
Stage III:HRV sensingintegratedinto my PC workstation
Stage III:HRV sensingintegratedinto my PC workstation
What have I learned ?
My HRV during meditation
HR = 57
HR = 72
Wide, smooth variations synchronized with
breathing are the goal
Over 3 years, I made progress
Over 3 years, I made progress
Time-domain HRV measurementsdon’t detect this well
r = -0.19N = 677
My HRV does correlate with strength training
r = 0.60N = 134
My HRV does correlate with strength training
r = 0.60N = 134
My HRV does not correlate with my weight
r = 0.04N = 134
My HRV does not correlate with my weight
r = 0.04N = 134
Bottom line?
HRV appears to measure my WILL power “I will lift these weights”
Bottom line?
HRV appears to measure my WILL power “I will lift these weights”
But not my WON’T power“I won’t eat these cookies”
Thanks for listening.
I look forward to your questions!
Contact info:Email: [email protected] Twitter:
@markleavittWebsite: markleavitt.com
