Optimizing Team Performance: The Role of HRV in Elite Sports

Marc Olmos, strength and conditioning coach at Bamberg Baskets, explains how to build a heart rate variability (HRV) routine for a basketball team, from a 3-minute morning test to reading readiness trends, for performance staff in professional team sports.

About this webinar

Marc Olmos is strength and conditioning coach at Bamberg Baskets in the German Basketball Bundesliga and is doing a PhD at the University of Barcelona on HRV in basketball; most of the session draws on his first published article. He explains what HRV tells you about the autonomic nervous system, which variable to use, and five decisions for an HRV protocol: frequency, timing, duration, position and conditions. He shows daily readiness from quick recovery tests (QRT), team and individual dashboards combining training load with readiness, and how he reads acute and chronic changes. The Q&A covers player compliance, testing during a video session and what to tell the head coach. The session runs 47 minutes and was recorded on 25 September 2024.

What you will learn

Why Olmos talks to a player after a low readiness score, such as 46% or 39%, before changing anything
Which protocol choices he recommends: after waking or before practice, at least 2 minutes, seated, same conditions every time
Why chronic HRV changes need at least 4–6 weeks to judge
Why high HRV with high day-to-day variation can mean a player is struggling with the load
How he gets 60–70% of players doing the test

Practical examples from the recording

1. A morning check with a conversation. Players take the 3-minute quick recovery test when they arrive at the facility, before any physical activity, sometimes as a team and sometimes individually. Olmos then speaks with any player showing low readiness, such as 60%, 46% or 39%, or a player who has been low four days in a row. He asks how they feel, how the night went and whether there are physical or health concerns. The answers, not the number, guide whether to adjust that player’s load when that is possible.

2. A protocol that fits a team. Research suggests about 3 recordings a week for trained athletes and 5 for recreational athletes, but Olmos records as often as he can, because some recordings will fail. Night and after-waking measurements are the most standardized. When after waking isn’t practical, he tests at rest just before morning practice, without caffeine and ideally on an empty stomach. Two minutes is enough in research, 1 minute to stabilize and 1 to record; the quick recovery test takes 3. He recommends sitting and the same position every time.

3. Reading a three-day dip. In one individual dashboard, readiness rose as training load fell towards the game, showing the player was absorbing the load. Another player was low for 3 consecutive days with mild symptoms of illness; staff talked with him, reduced load, and readiness rose again when the symptoms passed. A low score on game day later reflected acute stress such as pregame nerves or sleep after travel. Olmos’s point: the same low number can mean different things.

4. When a recovery day doesn’t recover. In the team dashboard, readiness was lower after a low-load recovery day than before it. Olmos concluded that the team activity on that day didn’t let players recover. He also reminds staff that a day off won’t always raise HRV, because you can’t control what players do, and that the nervous system recovers faster than muscle damage, so high HRV doesn’t mean muscles are ready.

Questions answered in the Q&A

How many players actually do the HRV test?
About 60–70% of the squad at Bamberg this season. Olmos says the first weeks decide it: set a clear protocol, explain why you test, and show players that something comes out of the data. If nothing is done with it, they get tired of it.

Can you run a quick recovery test during a video session?
Yes, with a rule. Olmos starts each player’s test only when heart rate is below 60 bpm. In a morning video session before any physical activity, he trusts the values he gets under that threshold.

Should you share readiness scores with the head coach?
Olmos doesn’t. A low number can lead a coach to a decision that isn’t best for the player. He talks to the player first and passes on only relevant findings, such as one hour of sleep or a stomach ache, to the coach, physio or doctor.

Is HRV enough to manage training load?
No. Olmos calls HRV an excellent secondary tool and a complement to the training load system, never his primary or only measure. He started by measuring himself for several months, then interested players, before using it with the whole team.

Who this webinar is for

Strength and conditioning coaches, sports scientists and heads of performance in professional basketball and other team sports, plus physiotherapists who want a practical HRV protocol and a way to turn readiness scores into conversations with players.