HRV Percentile by Age.
Heart rate variability tracks autonomic balance, recovery, and stress load, and it falls predictably with age. Enter your RMSSD to see how it ranks for your age band.
What HRV actually measures.
Heart rate variability is the beat-to-beat variation in time between heartbeats. High variability reflects strong parasympathetic ("rest and digest") tone and a flexible autonomic nervous system; chronically low variability tracks stress load, poor recovery, and (at the population level) higher cardiovascular and all-cause risk. RMSSD is the metric most wearables report and the most portable between devices.
Two caveats keep this honest. First, HRV falls predictably with age, which is why a fair comparison is age-banded. Second, it is intensely individual and sensitive to measurement conditions (night vs spot-check, posture, device), so your own multi-week baseline and its trend tell you far more than any single absolute number or percentile.
- Nunan D, Sandercock GRH, Brodie DA. (2010). A quantitative systematic review of normal values for short-term heart rate variability in healthy adults. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol, 33(11), 1407–1417.
- Shaffer F, Ginsberg JP. (2017). An overview of heart rate variability metrics and norms. Frontiers in Public Health, 5, 258.
Low HRV usually tracks an elevated stress load. The 14-day reset rebuilds recovery from the cortisol side.
Get the guide →For education, not medical advice. Results are estimates, not a diagnosis. Discuss any abnormal value or health concern with a qualified clinician.
50 High-Protein Snacks. Free.
Drop your email. We'll send the PDF straight to your downloads and add you to the weekly research drop. Unsubscribe anytime.