I Trained HRV Everyday for 7 Days - The Ultimate #biohack
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the impact of heart rate variability (HRV) on health and performance. The narrator embarks on a week-long experiment to improve their HRV from a low to an elite level using breathing exercises, sunlight exposure, and lifestyle adjustments. They discover that simple techniques like a five-count inhale and exhale can significantly enhance HRV, leading to better physical and mental performance. The experiment highlights the importance of HRV in achieving peak performance and overall well-being.
Takeaways
- ποΈββοΈ HRV (Heart Rate Variability) is a key indicator of overall health, longevity, and readiness to perform both physically and mentally.
- π Higher HRV is associated with better health and performance, and many elite coaches, CEOs, and business leaders aim to increase their HRV.
- π‘ Simple breathing exercises, like a five-second inhale and a five-second exhale, can immediately improve HRV by balancing the autonomic nervous system.
- π Morning sunlight exposure helps regulate circadian rhythm, which can improve sleep quality and HRV.
- β Limiting caffeine intake can prevent overstimulation of the nervous system, leading to better relaxation and recovery.
- π΅ Avoiding phone use and blue light exposure before bed can enhance sleep quality and improve HRV.
- π§ Cold water therapy, such as ending showers with cold water, can stimulate the vagus nerve, aiding in balancing the parasympathetic nervous system.
- π Tracking HRV consistently, especially in the morning, helps in understanding the effects of various activities and habits on HRV.
- π Different breathing exercises can be used for specific purposes, like priming for workouts or recovering post-workout, to optimize HRV.
- π₯ Diet significantly affects HRV, with unhealthy eating habits leading to lower HRV readings.
Q & A
What is HRV and why is it important?
-HRV stands for heart rate variability, which is the variation in time between each heartbeat. It is important because higher HRV is correlated with better overall health, longevity, and readiness to perform both physically and mentally.
How did the presenter measure their HRV?
-The presenter measured their HRV using a Polar chest strap with the Elite HRV app.
What was the range of the presenter's HRV measurements over five days?
-The presenter's HRV measurements ranged from a low of 45 after a workout day to a high of 54 on a normal workday.
What simple breathing exercise did the presenter try to improve HRV?
-The presenter tried a breathing exercise consisting of a five-second inhale followed by a five-second exhale.
What is the relationship between HRV and the autonomic nervous system?
-HRV indicates how responsive or balanced the autonomic nervous system is between the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) responses. A lower HRV score can indicate an imbalance between these two responses or an inability to switch between them efficiently.
How can morning sunlight exposure affect HRV?
-Morning sunlight exposure can help regulate the circadian rhythm, which in turn can improve sleep quality and duration. Better sleep can lead to improved recovery and higher HRV.
What impact did reducing caffeine intake have on the presenter's HRV?
-The presenter hypothesized that reducing caffeine intake might help them be more relaxed and improve their recovery and sleep, thereby positively affecting their HRV.
How did the presenter adjust their bedtime routine to improve HRV?
-The presenter turned down the thermostat for cooler sleep, avoided using their phone at least one hour before bed, and focused on getting better sleep to improve HRV.
What specific breathing exercises did the presenter use for workout priming and post-workout recovery?
-For workout priming, the presenter used a three-second inhale, six-second breath hold, and twelve-second exhale routine. For post-workout recovery, they used a five-second inhale followed by an eight-second exhale.
How did the presenter's diet impact their HRV readings?
-After indulging in unhealthy foods (cheesecake and carryout food), the presenter's HRV dropped significantly, demonstrating that diet can have a considerable impact on HRV.
What is the significance of tracking HRV consistently in the morning?
-Tracking HRV consistently in the morning provides a baseline for how the body is starting the day. It helps in understanding how different factors from the previous day affect HRV and overall readiness and recovery.
What are some benefits the presenter noticed from improving their HRV?
-The presenter noticed smoother days, improved workouts, better mental state, and overall better balance and performance on days when their HRV readings were higher.
Outlines
π The Importance of HRV and Methods to Improve It
The video begins with an explanation of heart rate variability (HRV) and its significance for health, performance, and recovery. The narrator introduces a week-long experiment to improve his HRV using a Polar chest strap and the Elite HRV app. Initial HRV readings were low, with variations between 45 and 54, indicating poor health for his age group. The narrator plans to use breathing exercises to improve his HRV, explaining how HRV reflects the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
π§ββοΈ Breathing Exercises and Their Immediate Effects
The narrator explains how simple breathing exercises, like a five-second inhale and exhale, can immediately improve HRV by synchronizing breathing with heartbeats, achieving a state of coherence. He notes feeling more refreshed and balanced after trying the breathing exercise. The narrator then reports a positive impact on his workout performance, attributing it to the breathing routine, and emphasizes the quick benefits of such practices.
π Morning Sunlight and Caffeine Reduction
On day two, the narrator experiences a low HRV reading due to poor sleep. He discusses the importance of morning sunlight for circadian rhythm and its impact on sleep quality. He also decides to cut down on caffeine consumption, linking excessive caffeine to increased stress and lower HRV. The narrator explains how too much caffeine can lead to central nervous system fatigue, irritability, and insomnia, negatively affecting HRV.
βοΈ Cooling Down for Better Sleep and HRV
The narrator details additional techniques to improve HRV, such as maintaining a cooler sleep environment and avoiding phone use before bed. He observes a significant improvement in his HRV after implementing these changes, recording a high HRV of 70. However, he notes that the app suggests his high HRV might indicate excessive recovery from chronic stress, prompting him to continue his breathing exercises and track his progress.
ποΈββοΈ Breathing Techniques for Exercise Performance
The narrator explores specific breathing exercises from the Elite HRV app designed to prime the body for workouts. He tries a workout priming routine and reports improved focus and performance during his exercise. Post-workout, he uses a recovery breathing routine, which also shows positive results in his HRV readings, indicating better readiness and recovery.
πΏ Cold Therapy and Diet's Impact on HRV
Cold water therapy, such as ending showers with a cold rinse, is another technique the narrator uses to stimulate the vagus nerve and improve HRV. He notes feeling balanced and peaceful after a day of breathing exercises and cold therapy. However, after indulging in unhealthy food, his HRV drops, highlighting the significant impact of diet on HRV.
π± Consistent Measurements and Lifestyle Adjustments
The narrator emphasizes the importance of consistent morning HRV measurements to track progress and make lifestyle adjustments. He reflects on how poor habits like phone use before bed and chronic stress contributed to low HRV readings. By focusing on relaxation, better sleep, and breathing exercises, he notices improvements in his HRV and overall well-being. The video concludes with encouragement to use HRV as a tool for better health and performance.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘HRV (Heart Rate Variability)
π‘Autonomic Nervous System
π‘Sympathetic Nervous System
π‘Parasympathetic Nervous System
π‘Breathing Exercises
π‘Coherence
π‘Cold Therapy
π‘Circadian Rhythm
π‘Vagus Nerve
π‘Morning Sunlight Exposure
Highlights
Higher HRV is correlated with overall health, longevity, and readiness to perform both physically and mentally.
Elite coaches, CEOs, investors, and business leaders try to increase HRV to achieve sustainable peak performance.
Simple breathing exercises, like a five-count inhale and five-count exhale, can immediately improve HRV.
HRV indicates how balanced the nervous system is between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.
Lower HRV can indicate an imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic responses.
Five and a half second inhale followed by a five and a half second exhale can synchronize breathing with heartbeat, known as coherence, improving HRV.
Morning sunlight exposure can help regulate circadian rhythm and improve sleep, which in turn can enhance HRV.
Reducing caffeine consumption may help in achieving a more relaxed state, improving overall recovery and HRV.
Cold water therapy or cold showers can stimulate the vagus nerve, improving parasympathetic response and HRV.
Limiting blue light exposure before bed, especially from phones, can enhance sleep quality and HRV.
Tracking HRV consistently can help identify positive and negative influences on health and performance.
HRV trends can indicate the body's response to stress and recovery, guiding adjustments to improve overall health.
Short breathing exercises, such as the three-second inhale, six-second breath hold, and twelve-second exhale, can prime HRV for workouts.
HRV can fluctuate based on diet, sleep, and stress, emphasizing the importance of holistic health management.
Maintaining a high morning HRV is crucial for overall daily performance and well-being.
Morning HRV readings can provide insights into the previous day's activities and their impact on health.
Cold water therapy, when done consistently, can enhance the vagus nerve connection, improving HRV over time.
Balanced autonomic nervous system responses are key to improved HRV and overall health.
Transcripts
A variation in time between each
heartbeat is known as HRV or heart rate
variability research has found that
having a higher HRV is correlated with
everything from overall Health and
Longevity to Readiness to perform both
physically and mentally in fact many
Elite coaches even CEOs investors and
Business Leaders try to increase this
biometric in an effort to achieve
sustainable Peak Performance in this
video I spend an entire week exploring
and applying ways to improve my HRV from
an abysmal level to an elite level what
will happen let's find out but you can
Focus so to measure my heart rate
variability I've been using this polar
chest strap with the elite HRV app and
for the past five days I've been taking
my HRV measurements every morning at the
best on the beginning of a normal
workday and then also on the beginning
of a weekend day my heart rate
variability was at the most 54 and then
at the lowest after a workout day I was
at a 45. all of my heart rate
variability measurements even my highest
ones over the past five days were all
beneath the average for my age group so
apparently one of the quickest ways to
immediately improve heart rate
variability is doing breathing exercises
and one of the simplest breathing
exercises to do for this instance is a
five count inhale and a five count
exhale that's exactly what I'm going to
try right now and I'm going to see if I
get a better reading immediately looking
closer at HRV that variation between
each heartbeat essentially indicates how
responsive or balanced your nervous
system is between the sympathetic
nervous system and parasympathetic
nervous system the main components of
our autonomic nervous system which are
responsible for controlling most of our
body's involuntary functions whether
that is going into fight or flight mode
when needed to perform intensely or
going into rest and digest mode when
needed to repair and recover now a lower
HRV score can indicate an imbalance
between these two responses or an
inability to switch between the two
efficiently now research has shown that
this simple breathing technique
consisting of approximately a five and a
half second inhale followed by a five
and a half second exhale physiologically
allows our breathing pattern to
synchronize with our heartbeat in a
state known as coherence this in return
allows our autonomous nervous system to
become balanced and better ready to
respond thus improving the HRV score
would you look at that
alright so that's very promising in fact
I actually feel a lot more refreshed and
clear right now so I'm actually going to
just get back to work for about an hour
or two and then I'm gonna get on with
the rest of the day that quick fix with
a simple breathing routine left me
feeling balanced and what I felt were
some good benefits done with work for
now I'm gonna get in a workout
thank you
and I was quite pleasantly surprised at
how smooth the workout went I felt
energized able to just dial in and
perform could something as simple as a
three minute breathing routine have that
much positive impact on physical
performance well I was inspired to try
more and find out more by the way great
news guys they fixed her they fixed her
while being able to improve my heart
rate variability and become more
balanced in the middle of the day led to
some great benefits I ultimately wanted
to strive to have a more consistently
High morning HRV result but on day two
after not so great of a night's sleep my
morning HRV was once again not the best
so my HRV this morning is 53 so it's not
much worse than it already was but yeah
terrible sleep I I think if I would have
got better asleep I probably would have
had way better HRV today anyways I'm
gonna go outside right now and get some
sunlight immediately on the body because
there's a little biohack there
oh look at that glow
oh so apparently getting exposed to
ideally sunlight first thing in the
morning is good for your circadian
rhythm as it will help you go to sleep
faster and stay asleep longer and then
therefore getting more sleep would help
increase your recovery and that would
help increase your HRV this is actually
something I've been implementing over
the past about 30 days I was planning on
making a long video on this let me know
if you guys want to see this but crazy
enough I did miss yesterday morning when
it comes to standing in the Sun so could
missing that morning sunshine the
previous day be the reason for the
previous night's bad sleep possibly but
there was another reason that I think
was more apparent that I would attempt
to solve later anyways getting about
five minutes of that Morning Sun
followed by some coffee and then off to
work where every few hours I would take
a break and implement the staple
breathing routine on top of this there
were a few more things I was going to
try to do or not do this day that would
hopefully positive affect my heart rate
variability
I just finished my second cup of coffee
and I think I'm gonna cut it off here
because I've been noticing I've just
been consuming more and more coffee and
I think consuming too much coffee or too
much caffeine has been one of the
reasons that's been leading me to
getting trapped in this sympathetic or
constantly agitated stressed just can't
relax stay so yes temporary performance
might decrease here today but I'm hoping
overall hopefully slowly decreasing the
caffeine might help me be more relaxed
and settle down when I should be there
for leading to better recovery and
better sleep and just a better overall
Rhythm now it should be obvious but too
much of a good thing can turn into a bad
thing and coffee or caffeine while
acting as a stimulant on the central
nervous system too much consumption of
coffee and or caffeine can result in
overall central nervous system fatigue
irritability insomnia
Etc all circling back around to pour HRV
I then implemented the simple breathing
routine multiple times throughout the
day and then at night I turned the
thermostat down because a cooler sleep
has been shown to help one settle and
maintain sleep better throughout the
night and then something very important
I should have already been doing is I
got rid of the phone at least one hour
before bed not only does the blue light
from the phone potentially disrupt
optimal melatonin production but also
the stimulatory effects from the phone
can have a negative impact on sleep and
relaxation and what do you know I had a
great restful sleep that night and my
morning HRV reading on day three was
relatively very high bro so my HRV looks
like it's way up there at 70 this
morning but it says I'm still very
parasympathetic so last night's sleep
while it wasn't the best it was way
better than the previous nights and when
I took my HRV morning reading it was the
highest it's ever been at 70. I'm like
dude am I an elite athlete now however
according to the app it said My Morning
Readiness was off way bad way too much
parasympathetic it said I was not ready
to tackle the day I might be sick so I'm
like wait a minute I have a high HRV
score doesn't that mean I should be more
balanced so I looked into this and
according to
help.elitehrv.com it says if your HRV
Rises abnormally high within a day or a
few days the app indicates with a yellow
or red that you are likely experiencing
abnormal amounts of recovery abnormal
amounts of recovery and they say this is
often in response to accumulated amounts
of stress so what I believe is happening
is that I've actually been kind of
stressed out chronically for so long
thus leading me to a low HRV score and
finally getting a decent night's sleep
last night along with all the breathing
exercises and other little adjustments
we've been doing all of a sudden this
morning I had a very high HRV reading
and the f is picking up that crazy
variation as well bro that's too much
too fast you must be too parasympathetic
you're not ready for the day that's how
I'm taking it I could be wrong it could
be picking up some other data I don't
know I'm gonna continue with the
breathing techniques for the day I'm
gonna Implement some more things that
are said to help the nervous system
balance and then I'm going to continue
taking the measurements so we have more
data to compare it to because this just
could be an anomaly I think we're on the
up I think we're improving but there's
still way more work to do so I continue
getting that first thing morning
exposure to the sunlight doing the five
and a half second inhale five and a half
second exhale breathing routine to help
balance but then later in the day after
work I found in the elite HRV app
multiple breathing exercises for
different specifications one of them I
found was called workout priming which
consisted of a three second inhale six
second breath hold and a 12 second
exhale this repeated apparently would
help me Prime my heart rate variability
and nervous system to perform best in a
workout and to my surprise it actually
felt like my workout went exceptionally
smooth I was focused and explosive just
like I wanted to be and overall on top
of this my mental outlook on the entire
workout felt abnormally positive
if that makes any sense liking the
result I went back to the app after the
workout and did the post-workout
recovery breathing routine for improved
heart rate variability this consisted of
a five second inhale followed by a 8
second exhale and using the app to
record my HRV throughout the session I
was happy with the results because
overall it seemed like my heart rate
variability thus Readiness and Recovery
was trending upwards so my average HRV
is 64 from that session and my phrv was
at 71. I'm feeling like we're trending
up and I feel like you know these simple
breathing exercises are really helping
out along with the other techniques
we're applying I think we're in the
right direction though now unfortunately
the next day my morning HRV was lower at
only 52 and while I slept decently I
felt like it could have been better but
I also felt like it could have been due
to the fact that I was recovering from
such an intense explosive workout from
the previous day now something that can
better help you understand why HRV
readings might be a certain way over
time is tracking how you feel in the
morning when taking that Morning
Readiness and also maybe tracking
patterns or anomalies from the previous
day during the next morning's Readiness
reading keeping track will allow you to
better make decisions and adjustments to
help improve your heart rate variability
over time now another technique that
I've been implementing for actually
quite a while that can have a positive
impact on heart rate variability is cold
water therapy or just taking a cold
shower now I don't take my entire shower
cold but I finish on the cold for about
20 to 30 seconds that temporary shock
from the cool water can stimulate the
vagus nerve which is responsible for
controlling most of the parasympathetic
nervous system and from my knowledge
this stimulation kind of works like
exercise where occasionally immersing in
cold water can help stimulate the
strengthen that vagus nerve connection
and lead to a more confident response
from the autonomous nervous system
probably
[Applause]
so it's my birthday today yeah
so pretty much just relaxing the rest of
the day and trying some more breathing
techniques I found myself feeling
peaceful and balanced by the end of the
day and then on the next morning my
heart rate variability was up to a 57.
so overall the cluster of these last
three days was trending up which was
good I continued implementing these
various around three minute breathing
routines based on how I felt throughout
the day whether I was about to go into a
workout trying to recover from a workout
awaken relax Etc everything was looking
good
but that is all until later in the day I
ended up indulging on way too many
leftovers from my birthday party
celebration but let's just say consisted
of a lot of cheesecake and leftover
carryout food that I'm not used to and
food that may not be considered too
healthy oh man
but it's my birthday and what I believed
was because of just the diet change this
day my next morning's HRV reading was
back in the 40s so diet really affects
HRV
holy smokes but I managed to stay
positive and just get back on track
implementing the various techniques I
was learning throughout this experiment
focusing on that morning sunlight
focused breathing cold therapy eating
healthy limiting light exposure before
bedtime especially no phone and just by
that already by the next morning my HRV
was significantly improved coming back
to normal there so not too bad what's up
home slice so this has been an absolute
eye-opening experiment if you think
about heart rate variability as we
looked at it throughout this video and
how it can be applied and why it's so
important is because it is this reading
that is so correlated with overall
health Wellness performance Etc that we
can use it when tracked consistently to
determine what might affect us
positively or negatively and how we can
possibly Trend up and thus trending up
HRV will in return full circle help
improve that balance and that better
balanced healthy response will there
therefore improve health improve
athletic performance improve mental
state well-being Etc it's this positive
Circle and that right there should be
obvious why it's so important for elite
athletes coaches people who want to
improve their mental cognitive physical
states trying to just be a biohacker you
know what I'm saying I mean it's not
invasive it gives you these readings and
you can just watch it either improve or
degrade and make adjustments over time
now with that being said we saw on this
experiment that by doing a simple
breathing routine of just that five and
a half second inhale five and a half
second exhale approximately six breaths
a minute can instantly balance the
autonomic nervous system leading to a
balanced improved HRV reading so this is
just a great simple tool to use however
based on my research and what just makes
sense is regarding overall heart rate
variability I found it important to
measure it consistently in the morning
because that's kind of showing like
where we're starting our day off at and
I saw in this experiment after taking
those first five reading before starting
any of these exercises that my average
HRV was kind of low in fact it was
actually in the what I found to be the
unhealthy range which apparently is
between about 40 and 55. and I think
this was due to just having too much
like chronic stress built up in my mind
every single day and I really wasn't
taking the time to relax to just breathe
and I wasn't focusing on good sleep I
was looking at my phone before bed I
know it's stupid I knew it was wrong but
I was doing it I wasn't balanced I
didn't feel balanced now on those days I
had better HRV readings in the morning I
felt like my overall day went
significantly smoother from my work to
my workouts to Just My overall mental
state and based on what I experienced I
would like to further continue to try
and improve this reading by improving My
overall health so what would be most
important to me going forward is to
continue taking these morning
measurements and trying to get that
morning measurement on average
consistently higher than it was for like
the previous week let's say hope you all
enjoy this video don't forget to
subscribe stay tuned more experiments
coming out peace I will see you all in
the next video
[Music]
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