Heart rate variability is literally the variance in time between the beats of your heart. A measure of your nervous system that is widely considered one of the best objective metrics for physical fitness and determining your body’s readiness to perform.. The exact measure to tell if how hard you should strain your body, or how much more recovery practices you need to incorporate to recover from mental/physical strain.
A website with HRV questions. HRV data. people asking about levels. Is this low? Is this normal? HRV changes quite frequently. Should not be taken once and made a conclusion from. HRV needs to be monitored on a consistent basis to form a baseline over time to understand how you can improve that number in an upward direction.
HOW TO Stimulate healthy nervous system function. (Higher HRV scores)
6 breaths per minute is the easiest way to set yourself up for success. breathing in and filling about 80%, inhaling through the nose and using the diaphragm. Using the lungs and stomach to bring air in. Breathing out slowly through the nose. This stimulates the Vegas nerve and will also increase nutrient and oxygen delivery. Breathing low from the stomach, breathing slow, and breathing quietly. Quietly as if you were trying not to move hairs in the nose when doing so.
Lots of professional athletes, especially pitchers before a pitch, or tennis players before a serve, are a classic example of controlling their breath before action to stimulate focus and better performance and also to make sure they’re optimizing they performance.
We want a minimum Dose response for exercise and the same for mental strain. If we consistently over train our bodies, or overstimulate our minds, we will have higher chance of injury and also have a lower HRV scores, along with lower energy levels. Continued over training will continue to lower the HRV. Now people are relying on caffeine and stimulants just to function each day. Stress is now not managed and damaged is done over years and decades. Staying ahead of stress is the goal. Enough food, enough time to activate relaxation, enough sleep and a balance between recovery and the amounts of strain being put on the body.
Back to breath work. Breath work will take us out of the “fight or flight” mode when we get ahold of slow deep breathing. AND ITS FREE. It will bring more calm to moments throughout the day. It will help us keep unnecessary stress off of the body.
Always stay in control of the breath. It is powerful in all situations, especially to prevent overreaction.
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