Consistency is key for the best HRV results. We recommend doing your recording 5-20 minutes after waking up, and before any exercise, tea/coffee or breakfast.
Settling down from waking up
Some Wattson Blue athletes are able to get a consistent reading as soon as they wake up, but the majority will need a few minutes to settle down (even though they’ve only just got out of bed!).
For the first few minutes after waking up, stick to your normal routine:
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- Go to the bathroom
- Drink a glass of water
- Put the kettle on.
After a few minutes:
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- Sit down (if you have a resting heart rate of below 55)
- Lie down (if you have a resting heart rate of above 55)
- Relax for a moment (20-60 seconds)
- Open Wattson Blue
- Go to Today’s Metrics page
- Put your finger on the camera and flash on your phone
- Start your recording.
Here are things to avoid
- Varying your body position during recording on different days
- Drinking tea/coffee or having breakfast
- Changing your breathing or ‘forcing yourself’ to relax
- Running around the house
- Going on social media or reading articles that might cause an emotional response
- Doing any exercise
- Having a long shower/bath (unless you do that every day)
- Moving around during your recording.
Remember, consistency is key.
PPG outline
You can use the live PPG trace to learn how hard you need to press on your phone’s camera and flash.
Don’t worry if the trace moves around and resets sometimes. The app will tell you if you should re-record because of a poor signal.
Once you know how hard you need to press to get a good HRV reading, you shouldn’t have to look at your phone during recording. Simply press start and put your phone face down on the nearest surface.
Technical tips
- If your camera and flash are too far apart, or your flash gets too hot (on some Android phones), you can keep less pressure on the flash, or even leave a small gap between your skin and the flash whilst keeping the camera fully covered.
- Make sure your finger is resting directly on the camera and flash – you might have to remove a large phone case.
- Don’t carry out the recording in very bright surroundings.
- Stay hydrated and ensure that your fingers aren’t too cold – reducing blood flow to your fingers can interfere with the signal.
If you are following these tips but continue to get warnings about the signal quality in the app, please drop us a line: support@wattson.blue