HRV is a powerful metric; it can give us unique insights into our body’s response to stress. In the scientific literature, higher HRV is typically associated with better health and improved performance. But HRV isn’t as simple as, “How high can you go?” — having more consistent HRV values from day to day can also signal an enhanced ability to respond to daily stressors.
With that in mind, how can you increase your HRV and make it more consistent?
1. Stay active
One of the most effective ways to lower your resting heart rate and increase your HRV is staying active. Regular exercise a few times per week can lead to improved HRV at any age and is one of the most effective, established ways to make progress for more sedentary individuals. If you’re already very active, rather than aiming for a higher HRV score, focus on incorporating HRV monitoring into your training routine and watch how your HRV consistency changes. This approach can lead to improved performance.
2. Get good sleep
Good sleep is just as important as exercise. Several studies have shown how sleep deprivation, or simply lower sleep quality, is associated with reduced HRV. So, especially when something like a new exercise regimen or work-related stress begins to add strain to your day — recovery becomes essential.
3. Eat well
Activity, sleep, and diet are the three pillars of a healthy lifestyle. What we eat and when we eat can have a significant impact on our sleep and resting physiology (heart rate and HRV). While individual needs can vary, try avoiding processed foods and late, large meals, as these have been shown to reduce HRV.
4. Breathe
Deep breathing techniques (everything from yoga, mindfulness, meditation, or biofeedback) can effectively strengthen the parasympathetic system (your “rest and digest” network), resulting in improved HRV. While putting these techniques into practice, keep in mind that your HRV is likely going to be higher during the activity itself than your nighttime values. This is especially true when breathing close to our resonant frequency, which is typically 6 breaths per minute.
The research is still emerging on if these daytime HRV increases can reliably improve your resting, nighttime HRV, but it’s one of the many tools you can access easily and is definitely worth exploring.
5. Listen To Your Body And Better Manage Stress
The previous four tips are all key to improving our HRV, but stress will still play a significant role in our lives for a variety of reasons. On days when your HRV is a bit lower than usual, try to prioritize recovery, reduce training intensity, and take extra care of yourself. These small steps can lead to improved health and performance
HRV is Highly Individual
Many of these HRV tips have worked for a variety of people. However, HRV is highly individual, so remember to always compare your HRV to your own averages and avoid comparisons to others.
As often happens when we try something new, it’s also important to experiment and see what works for you, your body, and your lifestyle. Improving our physiology takes time; each of these habits might take several weeks to build and deliver benefits, but exploration will only help you find what’s best for your health!
If you are concerned about your stress levels then this quick online quiz will be a great srating point for me to assist you with that. Fill it in, make sure you put “Rich” as your coaches name and I’ll come back to you with the results.
Ref: ouraring.com