Enhance Your Physical & Mental Resilience (HRV, Respiratory Rate, RHR)
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Summary
In this episode, I explain how to increase your control over your nervous system — not just to manage stress, but to recalibrate your autonomic nervous system for long-term physiological resilience and adaptability. This episode goes beyond basic stress management techniques to explore how to fine-tune your nervous system, become more stress tolerant, and use your personal data to know exactly when and how to intervene.
Using the three I’s framework — Investigate, Interpret and Intervene — I explain how to assess key physiological markers such as heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory rate and CO₂ tolerance. I also discuss a range of tools and strategies, ranging from free to clinical-grade, that can shift your nervous system acutely (like cold exposure or visual resets) and chronically (such as structured breathwork or exercise).
This episode is for anyone looking to actively train their brain and body to improve resilience, adaptability and peak performance.
Articles
- Body temperature changes during the practice of g Tum-mo yoga (Nature)
- Heart rate variability as a marker of healthy ageing (International Journal of Cardiology)
- Heart Rate Variability, Sleep Quality, and Depression in the Context of Chronic Stress (Annals of Behavioral Medicine)
- The Importance of Respiratory Rate Monitoring: From Healthcare to Sport and Exercise (Sensors)
- Breathing Practices for Stress and Anxiety Reduction: Conceptual Framework of Implementation Guidelines Based on a Systematic Review of the Published Literature (Brain Sciences)
- A Practical Guide to Resonance Frequency Assessment for Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (Frontiers in Neuroscience)
- Heart rate variability and lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (Annals of Epidemiology)
- Heart rate variability in the prediction of mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of healthy and patient populations (Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews)
- First Evaluation of an Index of Low Vagally-Mediated Heart Rate Variability as a Marker of Health Risks in Human Adults: Proof of Concept (Journal of Clinical Medicine)
- Reduced heart rate variability is associated with vulnerability to depression (Journal of Affective Disorders Reports)
- Predicting stress in first-year college students using sleep data from wearable devices (PLOS Digital Health)
- Mean nocturnal respiratory rate predicts cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling older men and women (European Respiratory Journal)
- Effects of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on heart rate variability at rest and during acute stress in adults with moderate hypertriglyceridemia (Psychosomatic Medicine)
- Short-term effects of fish-oil supplementation on heart rate variability in humans: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
- The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial (Nutrients)
- Association between Micronutrients and Heart Rate Variability: A Review of Human Studies (Advances in Nutrition)
- Effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on heart rate variability and cognitive flexibility (Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews)
- Mobile heart rate variability biofeedback improves autonomic activation and subjective sleep quality (Journal of Psychophysiology)
- The three Rs of cardiac vagal control functioning: Resting, reactivity, and recovery (Frontiers in Neuroscience)
- Effect of aerobic exercise, slow deep breathing and mindfulness meditation on cortisol and glucose levels in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized controlled trial (Frontiers in Physiology)
- Effect of Resonance Breathing on Heart Rate Variability and Cognitive Functions in Young Adults: A Randomised Controlled Study (Cureus)
Books
Other Resources
- Morpheus
- Polar H10 Heart Rate Sensor
- Optimal HRV
- Assess Recovery & Internal State With the CO2 Tolerance Test with Brian Mackenzie
- GammaCore
- The Health & Human Performance Foundation
- Waking Up
- Paced Breathing app
- Shiftwave
- Huberman Lab Essentials: Tools for Managing Stress & Anxiety
Perform Episodes Mentioned
- How to Use & Interpret Blood Tests for High Performance
- Avoid Fitness Plateaus, Overtraining & Mis-Timed Performance Peaks
People Mentioned
- Brian Mackenzie: human performance specialist
- Cameron Hanes: outdoorsman, author
- Jocko Willink: retired Navy SEAL, author, podcaster
- Emily Hightower: nervous system training, breathwork expert
- Quinn Henoch: physical therapist, coach
- Sam Harris: philosopher, neuroscientist, author
- Paul Lehrer: clinical research and occupational medicine, Rutgers Health
- Jay Wiles: clinician, expert on stress physiology and human performance
- Jill Miller: author, fascia expert
- Martin McPhilimey: breath and stress scientist