How Do You Know When You Are Ready For More?
If you are a high performance athlete there is a delicate balance between highly trained and overtrained, which leads to being ill. One tool athletes have used for 30 years is Heart Rate Variability.
High Heart Rate Variability is a measure of Nervous System flexibility and adaptability. When it’s high you can train harder, run longer or faster and because your body is in a healthier state it will respond to the stress of training positively.
When your Heart Rate Variability is low, light training or even taking a day off is recommended as your body is struggling with the demands placed upon it, and it is having difficulty getting to the state of Rest, Repair and Rejuvenate.
This recent study looks at the benefits gained by those who trained less, but listened to their body, and had greater gains than those who followed a pre-outlined training plan.
Can Everyone Benefit from This Tool?
You don’t need to be an athlete to learn to listen to your body. Heart Rate Variability is something you can check on your own, with your smartphone and a $40-$60 Heart Rate Monitor. In addition to exercise, life stresses can lower your ability to Rest and Rejuvenate. If you know where you are, in relation to your Normal, you can take proactive steps to keep yourself healthy, or know you can take on an extra project, or walk an extra mile with a friend.
Dr. Brian
PS – I will be on Spring Break next week (March 27-31), my office will reopen Apr. 3rd.
Corrales Chiropractic 