Yes. A meta-analysis of 12 studies with 329 people averaging 69 years found that endurance training raised SDNN SDNN The standard deviation of all NN intervals in a recording, in milliseconds. It measures overall variability, and its value depends strongly on how long the recording lasts. More about SDNN , and the gain grew with the number of sessions a week. It starts from a lower base: in a 24-hour study, RMSSD RMSSD Root mean square of successive differences: an HRV metric built from how much each heartbeat interval differs from the next, in milliseconds. It mainly reflects vagal activity. More about RMSSD averaged 22 ms at ages 60 to 69 and 21 ms at 80 to 99, and the fall with age slowed after 60.
What is usual after 60
Two reference studies cover older adults with different recordings. Umetani and colleagues (1998) fitted 260 healthy people aged 10 to 99 with 24-hour Holter monitors. Their Table 2 gives these 24-hour means:
| Age | RMSSD, 24 h | SDNN, 24 h | n |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50–59 | 25 ms (SD 9) | 121 ms (SD 27) | 22 |
| 60–69 | 22 ms (SD 6) | 121 ms (SD 32) | 20 |
| 70–79 | 24 ms (SD 7) | 124 ms (SD 22) | 21 |
| 80–99 | 21 ms (SD 6) | 106 ms (SD 23) | 21 |
RMSSD fell fastest between the teens and the fifties, reaching 47% of its teenage value by the sixth decade, and the authors write that after age 60 the rate of decrease slowed and then stabilised. Men and women no longer differed after 50.
For short resting recordings, Voss and colleagues (2015) measured 1,906 healthy adults aged 25 to 74 in southern Germany with a 5-minute ECG ECG A recording of the heart's electrical activity, taken with electrodes on the skin. ECG-based RR intervals are the reference standard for measuring HRV. More about ECG lying down. At 65 to 74 the median RMSSD was 16.9 ms in women and 16.7 ms in men, with the lower quarter below 11.1 and 11.8 ms. Those are the rows the HRV checker uses, and the 24-hour rows are there too when you choose a 24-hour recording.
Where does my number sit?
Published reference data, not a diagnosis
18 ms is within the usual range for healthy women aged 65–74 (the middle half sit between 11 and 24 ms).
If this number comes from a ring or watch, treat it as a rough guide: the reference values come from ECG recordings taken awake at rest.
Group: women aged 65–74. 5-minute resting ECG, lying down, after 5–10 minutes of rest. Source: Short-term heart rate variability—influence of gender and age in healthy subjects (PLOS ONE 2015).
Position is not health: many well people sit in the lower quarter of any group. What moves HRV explains the day-to-day causes.
The controls work when JavaScript is on.
A horizontal line from 0 to 30 ms with a shaded span for the middle half of the reference group and a marker for the reader's number. Controls set the number, the statistic (RMSSD or SDNN), where the number comes from, age and sex. 18 ms is within the usual range for healthy women aged 65–74 (the middle half sit between 11 and 24 ms). Source: Short-term heart rate variability—influence of gender and age in healthy subjects, PLOS ONE 2015.
A reading of 18 ms at 68 sits inside the middle half of the group. The page on what a low HRV means explains why a low number compared with other people is not the same as low for you.
What training does after 60
Raffin and colleagues (2019) pooled 12 studies of endurance exercise in people over 60: 218 trained and 111 control participants, mean ages about 69. Across all studies, training raised short-term SDNN (effect size g = 0.37) and 24-hour SDNN (g = 0.44); in the seven controlled studies the 24-hour SDNN effect was larger (g = 0.72). The meta-regression found a positive relationship between the SDNN gain and training frequency (p = 0.046): more sessions a week, more HRV. The authors conclude that chronic endurance exercise improves HRV in a linear frequency-response pattern and encourage high-frequency programmes for older adults, while noting some risk of bias in the included studies.
Grässler and colleagues (2021) reviewed 13 studies in adults aged 60 and over and found that endurance, coordination (balance and agility) and mixed programmes improved cardiac autonomic control, while the two resistance-training studies did not. Every kind of training improved other health markers.
Expect modest gains. Sandercock, Bromley and Brodie (2005), pooling training studies in adults of all ages, found that exercise raised the RR interval RR interval The time from one heartbeat to the next, measured in milliseconds between the R peaks of an ECG. HRV is calculated from a series of these intervals. More about RR interval and high-frequency HRV, and that the RR interval response was smaller in older participants. The training page and how can I increase my HRV cover the practical side.
What to do with your own number
- Compare with your age group and with the same kind of recording, not with a 30-year-old’s chart or a 24-hour value.
- Compare with yourself. Three weeks of nights gives a baseline Baseline Your own usual HRV level and range, built from weeks of readings taken the same way. Comparing a reading with your baseline says more than comparing it with other people. More about Baseline ; a 7-day average shows the trend. The baseline lesson shows how.
- If you want to move it, the evidence points to regular endurance exercise, several times a week, kept up for months. Balance and coordination work helps too.
- Keep sleep, alcohol and illness in the picture: they move HRV at every age.
When to talk to a doctor
A lower HRV after 60 is usual and not a diagnosis. Talk to a doctor before starting a new exercise programme if you have heart disease, high blood pressure or symptoms such as chest pain, breathlessness, dizziness or an irregular pulse, and see one promptly if those symptoms appear.