What is a normal HRV for my age?

Median RMSSD from a 10-second resting ECG (Lifelines, n = 84,772). Women: 13–14 66.5 ms, 15–19 60.7 ms, 20–24 52.1 ms, 25–29 47.5 ms, 30–34 42.3 ms, 35–39 37.9 ms, 40–44 33.9 ms, 45–49 29.2 ms, 50–54 26.6 ms, 55–59 22.5 ms, 60–64 20.5 ms, 65–69 17.8 ms, 70–74 18.3 ms, 75+ 16.1 ms. Men: 13–14 67.4 ms, 15–19 59.9 ms, 20–24 47.6 ms, 25–29 42.3 ms, 30–34 36.9 ms, 35–39 32.8 ms, 40–44 29.0 ms, 45–49 26.0 ms, 50–54 23.7 ms, 55–59 21.0 ms, 60–64 19.1 ms, 65–69 17.7 ms, 70–74 16.0 ms, 75+ 14.9 ms. The spread within every band is wide: the 2nd to 98th percentile at 40–44 runs from 9.7 to 123.7 ms in women.

What is a good HRV for a 40 year old?

At 40–44 the median RMSSD is 33.9 ms for women and 29.0 ms for men on a 10-second resting ECG. A sleeping HRV from a ring or strap usually reads higher than a daytime ECG, so compare like with like.

Does HRV go down with age?

Yes. Median RMSSD falls from 52.1 ms (women) and 47.6 ms (men) at 20–24 to 26.6 and 23.7 ms at 50–54, then flattens after about 60 in this cohort. Peter Attia describes the same curve on tape: a 50-year-old's HRV is less than half a 15-year-old's.

How much of an HRV drop matters?

The panel does not read a single number against a table. Andy Galpin's rule on tape is to measure for 30 days, take the average, and judge a drop against your own day-to-day spread; a drop of about 20 percent from your baseline is what he calls a very large disruption.

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HRV by Age

The published reference values for heart rate variability at every age, from the largest cohort that has printed them. And the part a table cannot give you: how the panel reads one number.

Tegegne et al. 2020, Lifelines Cohort Study (n = 84,772). RMSSD in milliseconds from a 10-second resting 12-lead ECG. Not a diagnosis.

The short answer, at 40

At 40–44 the median RMSSD is 33.9 ms for women and 29.0 ms for men. The healthy range around that median is wide: the middle 96% of women in that band run from 9.7 to 123.7 ms. A number inside the band tells you little on its own. The panel's rule is to compare you with you, over 30 days.

HRV reference values by age and sex

RMSSD in milliseconds. Median, with the 2nd to 98th percentile range beside it. Find your age row, then read across.

Women

Age	Median	2nd–98th pct	Mean (SD)	n	Panel target
13–14	66.5	17.4–232.2	77.7 (51.3)	275	—
15–19	60.7	12.4–225.9	73.8 (50.5)	1,787	—
20–24	52.1	11.3–205.5	64.7 (47.3)	3,478	—
25–29	47.5	11.5–180.7	58.0 (40.0)	5,262	—
30–34	42.3	11.5–161.0	51.6 (35.4)	5,307	—
35–39	37.9	10.8–141.9	46.0 (31.9)	6,437	—
40–44	33.9	9.7–123.7	41.0 (28.6)	8,315	—
45–49	29.2	8.3–109.5	35.6 (25.5)	8,643	—
50–54	26.6	7.5–96.3	31.8 (22.0)	4,907	at 50, under half of age 15⁴
55–59	22.5	6.7–83.6	27.2 (19.4)	2,422	—
60–64	20.5	5.5–79.3	25.2 (20.0)	1,968	—
65–69	17.8	5.0–83.0	22.9 (20.6)	1,036	—
70–74	18.3	5.0–115.8	25.2 (31.3)	403	—
75+	16.1	3.5–106.2	24.0 (25.0)	172	—

Men

Age	Median	2nd–98th pct	Mean (SD)	n	Panel target
13–14	67.4	12.8–213.0	80.3 (53.6)	278	—
15–19	59.9	9.8–213.2	70.8 (48.8)	1,089	—
20–24	47.6	9.6–174.0	57.3 (40.1)	1,653	—
25–29	42.3	10.1–172.7	52.1 (38.8)	3,454	—
30–34	36.9	10.2–140.8	45.4 (32.4)	4,058	—
35–39	32.8	8.6–123.8	39.9 (28.1)	4,456	—
40–44	29.0	8.1–105.5	35.2 (24.7)	5,507	—
45–49	26.0	7.1–95.5	31.6 (22.9)	5,947	—
50–54	23.7	6.7–87.5	28.7 (20.2)	3,396	at 50, under half of age 15⁴
55–59	21.0	5.5–89.5	26.2 (21.9)	1,650	—
60–64	19.1	4.8–86.6	24.8 (25.0)	1,342	—
65–69	17.7	4.87–110.5	24.4 (24.9)	834	—
70–74	16.0	4.7–161.9	27.2 (37.6)	355	—
75+	14.9	3.7–130.3	25.4 (31.8)	140	—

A 10-second daytime ECG reads lower than the sleeping HRV a ring or strap reports. Compare your wearable against its own history, not against this table.

How the panel reads an HRV number

Nobody on the panel gives an HRV target by age. What they give, on tape, are rules for reading your own number, and one description of the age curve. Each line below is verbatim at the second linked.

1
a 20% drop is a big disruption

“you're going to see things like HRV drop by generally 20 or so percent that would be a very large disruption in HRV”
Dr. Andy Galpin, on Andrew Huberman's show, on the record @ 106:27
2
30 days to set your baseline

“Measure for 30 days. Try to keep things stable. Take the average, right? Most of your tracker devices and stuff will like give you these numbers.”
Dr. Andy Galpin, on Rhonda Patrick's show, on the record @ 187:16
3
judge drops against your own SD

“we'll pick a number 70 normally. Some people will stay within 70 to 75 to 65. So their standard deviation would be like five milliseconds. Some people's normal standard deviation is 20.”
Dr. Andy Galpin, on Rhonda Patrick's show, on the record @ 187:00
4
at 50, under half of age 15 · age 50 on the curve

“it was an unmistakable Trend right which is like a 50-year old's HRV is less than half of a 15year old's”
Peter Attia, on the record @ 34:27
5
normal 20–100 ms, elite 180–200

“so you get these normal ranges of I know 20 to 80 or 100 like you said but then you can get an elite athletes 180 200”
Joel Jamieson, on Peter Attia's show, on the record @ 51:04

What this table does not tell you

The spread inside a band is enormous. At 45–49 the middle 96% of men run from 7.1 to 95.5 ms. Two healthy people the same age can differ fivefold. That is why the panel compares you with your own baseline, not with a median.
The measurement is not the one your ring takes. These are 10-second resting ECGs taken awake. Sleeping HRV from a wearable runs higher, and each device's algorithm differs. Only trend against the same device.
The curve flattens after 60. In this cohort the median stops falling around 60–64 and holds. A 70-year-old is not expected to sit far below a 60-year-old.

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Chat with the corpus: "my HRV dropped 25% this week, what should I change first" with a timecode behind the answer

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Where these numbers come from

The reference table is Tegegne et al. 2020, Lifelines Cohort Study (n = 84,772), reproduced from the open-access paper: Tegegne BS, Man T, van Roon AM, Snieder H, Riese H. Reference values of heart rate variability from 10-second resting electrocardiograms: the Lifelines Cohort Study. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2020;27(19):2191–2194.
We did not print 24-hour Holter norms or the pooled short-term review. Both sit behind paywalls, and a table copied from a third-party transcription is not a source.
Every line in the panel column is verbatim off the tape and checked at build. A reading rule nobody stated does not appear.

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