To measure an archer's heart rate variability you need RMSSD, not the ratio between the bands
3 studies · 18 archers measured
The summary today
The rule comes from psychophysiology, not from archery. The reference methodological review, from 2017, sets out what each index measures: RMSSD, the square root of the mean of the squared differences between successive beats, estimates vagal tone and is little affected by breathing, and two minutes are enough to compute it well, in a sample of 3,387 adults even ten-second windows averaged together. The ratio of the low band to the high band, on the other hand, does not measure the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems as was long believed, even though about two papers in three still use it, and the high band only works as a measure of vagal tone if breathing stays between 9 and 24 breaths a minute. The same review adds two conditions that are missing on the shooting line: vagal tone cannot be read while the body is moving, and a comparable measurement needs the same time of day, the same sleep, and no coffee or hard training beforehand. In archers nobody has tested the indices against each other: in 22 beginners shooting ten arrows the band ratio changes so differently from person to person that it does not tell real shooting from virtual shooting, while RMSSD does tell them apart but rises by 10 per cent as the heart speeds up, and in elite Turkish archers at rest RMSSD varies enormously from one athlete to the next, 82.8 ± 52.9 milliseconds. The rule holds as a methodological guideline borrowed from other fields: in archery it has yet to be tested.
Also phrased as: "rmssd or lf/hf"; "which hrv index to use"; "the lf/hf ratio measures stress"; "sympathovagal balance in archers"; "how to measure hrv on the shooting line"
In practice
In sports literature and in some commercial devices the ratio of the low band to the high band is still presented as the index of the balance between stress and recovery, and on the shooting line it is read that way.
Evidence
-
2017
For General population Published later
Methodological review with recommendations for psychophysiological research: RMSSD is the preferred time-domain index for estimating vagal tone, because it is closely tied to the high band but relatively free of breathing effects, and it is also preferred to pNN50.
Heart rate variability and cardiac vagal tone in psychophysiological research – recommendations for experiment planning, data analysis, and data reporting · Sylvain Laborde, Emma Mosley, Julian F. Thayer
-
2017
For General population Published later
The ratio of the low band to the high band was long read as the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, but the low band reflects a mix of sympathetic, vagal and baroreflex activity, and the two systems do not move reciprocally. The authors write that its physiological meaning is unclear, that about 65 per cent of heart rate variability papers still base their conclusions on it, and they recommend indices tied to clearly identified physiological systems.
Heart rate variability and cardiac vagal tone in psychophysiological research – recommendations for experiment planning, data analysis, and data reporting · Sylvain Laborde, Emma Mosley, Julian F. Thayer
-
2017
For General population Published later
On recording length the review draws on a study of 3,387 adults: more than 120 s is not needed for an accurate RMSSD, and even a single 10 s trace gives a valid value, preferably averaged over several 10 s windows, which need not be consecutive. It is the property that would make RMSSD readable between one end and the next.
Heart rate variability and cardiac vagal tone in psychophysiological research – recommendations for experiment planning, data analysis, and data reporting · Sylvain Laborde, Emma Mosley, Julian F. Thayer
-
2017
Context General population Published later
The high band, from 0.15 to 0.40 Hz, corresponds to breathing at 9 to 24 breaths a minute: below that, as in slow breathing or in athletes who breathe slowly, it no longer represents vagal tone well. The authors recommend checking that breathing rate stays in that range and is the same across the conditions being compared.
Heart rate variability and cardiac vagal tone in psychophysiological research – recommendations for experiment planning, data analysis, and data reporting · Sylvain Laborde, Emma Mosley, Julian F. Thayer
-
2017
Context General population Published later
While the body is moving, heart rate variability cannot be read as vagal tone: for an unambiguous interpretation the measurement has to be taken without physical activity, and the recommended alternative is to measure just before the task. For short measurements the standard remains five minutes, with one minute as the minimum for the high band.
Heart rate variability and cardiac vagal tone in psychophysiological research – recommendations for experiment planning, data analysis, and data reporting · Sylvain Laborde, Emma Mosley, Julian F. Thayer
-
2017
Context General population Published later
A comparable measurement needs fixed conditions: the same time of day, normal sleep the night before, no hard training the day before, no meals, coffee or tea in the previous two hours, no alcohol in the previous 24 hours. On the signal side, the two classic methods of frequency analysis agree closely in the high band (r between 0.86 and 0.91), but the Fourier transform tends to overestimate it.
Heart rate variability and cardiac vagal tone in psychophysiological research – recommendations for experiment planning, data analysis, and data reporting · Sylvain Laborde, Emma Mosley, Julian F. Thayer
-
2024
Context General population Published later
22 university students with no shooting experience, ten arrows at 18 m with a bow and ten in virtual reality, four minutes of recording per condition: the change from rest in the band ratio is -114.20 ± 476.17 per cent in real shooting and -57.94 ± 367.95 in virtual shooting (p = 0.45). RMSSD, by contrast, separates the two conditions, +10.26 ± 76.78 per cent against -19.77 ± 37.08 (p = 0.02), but in real shooting it rises while heart rate goes up by 32.5 per cent, which the authors partly put down to breathing being regulated between arrows.
Comparison of Heart Rate Variability Psychological Responses and Performance in Virtual and Real Archery · Nihal Dal, Serdar Tok, İlker Balıkçı, Said Enes Yılmaz, Erdal Binboğa
-
2025
Context Archers Published later
18 elite Turkish archers (11 men, 7 women, average age 18) at the 2024 national indoor championships, five minutes seated with a chest strap before training and before competition: before training RMSSD 82.83 ± 52.89 ms, SDNN 75.60 ± 38.25 ms, band ratio 2.35 ± 5.44; before competition RMSSD 69.55 ± 65.44 ms and ratio 1.65 ± 2.72, with the interval between beats falling from 902 to 775 ms. Before competition the band ratio is associated with reported somatic anxiety. Regional journal.
Elit Okçularda Antrenman ve yarışma Öncesinde Kalp Atım Hızı Değişkenliği ile Kaygı Düzeylerinin İncelenmesi · Melis Aksüy, Melek Makaracı
Status history
- 2017 Transferred The reference methodological review sets out what each index measures. RMSSD estimates vagal tone and is little affected by breathing, and two minutes are enough to compute it, or even several ten-second windows averaged together. The ratio of the low band to the high band does not measure the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, and the high band only holds if breathing stays between 9 and 24 breaths a minute. There are also conditions for the measurement: no reading of vagal tone while the body is moving, and the same time of day, the same sleep, no coffee or hard training beforehand. These are recommendations from psychophysiology in adults, with no archers involved: the claim rests on studies from other fields.
- 2024 Transferred The first measurements during actual shooting arrive, on 22 university students who had never shot: ten arrows at 18 metres with a bow and ten in virtual reality. The band ratio changes from rest so differently from person to person, with standard deviations four to six times the mean, that it does not tell the two conditions apart; RMSSD does tell them apart, but in real shooting it rises by 10 per cent while heart rate rises by about a third, a result the authors themselves find unexpected. It is not a comparison of indices and it does not concern trained archers: the status does not change.
- 2025 Transferred Eighteen elite Turkish archers measured for five minutes seated, before a training session and before a competition, show how much the individual matters: at rest RMSSD is 82.8 ± 52.9 milliseconds and the band ratio 2.35 ± 5.44, with differences between athletes larger than the means. Before the competition the interval between beats shortens, while RMSSD does not change significantly. These are descriptive data, with no comparison of indices: the rule still rests on the general literature.
Related
Related articles
- The heart at the moment of the shot: slowing, a lower heart rate and diastoleReleasing between beats, a heart that slows during the aim, a lower heart rate worth points: what studies have measured of the archer's heart at the shot.
- Thoracic mobility, diaphragmatic breathing and HRVThoracic mobility, diaphragmatic breathing and HRV for archers: the exercises, an eight-week protocol and what the studies on archers show.
- Biofeedback and neurofeedback for archers: what changes in the signal and what in the scoreWhat studies show on neurofeedback, heart rate biofeedback, computer training and headsets for archers: the trained signal changes, the score far less.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). To measure an archer's heart rate variability you need RMSSD, not the ratio between the bands (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/heart-rate-variability-rmssd-index
@misc{campagna2026_hrvindicegiusto,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {To measure an archer's heart rate variability you need RMSSD, not the ratio between the bands},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/heart-rate-variability-rmssd-index},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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