HRV - the one key metric for CEO's

CEO’s and Entrepreneurs face challenges in their leadership roles most people simply do not understand.?

These demands place a large amount of stress load on their bodies resulting eventually in reduced performance and potentially chronic disease.??

Fortunately, a solution exists to counterbalance the effects of job stress CEO’s face.??

The solution is heart-rate variability. (HRV)

Experts, researchers, and doctors in the performance world are calling heart-rate variability the best overall biometric.?

HRV training can help high-performers monitor their health, better manage their stress response, and achieve sustainable peak performance.

What are the benefits of improving HRV??

• Improved Focus
• Improved Immune Function
• Increased Stress Resilience
• Improved Physical & Cognitive Performance
• Improved Recovery
• Optimised Sleep

But What Is Heart Rate Variability?

HRV simply put is the variation in time intervals between consecutive heartbeats averaged over time. Your HRV score is an indicator of how stress affects your body. It’s also a measure of total load: sleep, nutrition, training levels, and mental and emotional stress.

HRV is linked to your autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches.

Your ANS is responsible for your body's reaction to daily stressors and regulates some of your body’s most important systems, including heart rate, respiration, and digestion.

The greater the magnitude of your heart rate fluctuations or changes between beats, the more sensitive and capable the physiological reflexes are that help to control your autonomic nervous system.

As a rule of thumb:

• High HRV is associated with rest-and-digest, general fitness, good recovery and better stress management.

Low HRV is associated with fight-or-flight, high stress levels, illness, overtraining, and anxiety. (A Low HRV is correlated with nine of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S)

Although, there are some situations where a low HRV is necessary and even desirable. For instance, during strenuous exercise, a low HRV is a reflection of your fight-or-flight system appropriately dominating to get your heart rate up for activity.

How do we improve HRV?

Improving HRV depends on your current health and fitness status. It’s important that you have an accurate device to measure HRV (Oura Rings, Apple Watch, Whoop)

One of the most common starting points is learning deep breathing. This involves learning to engage your diaphragm, or belly area, to breathe in and out at a slower pace for a defined period.??

A good routine would be to complete five minutes in the morning when you first wake up, five minutes during the afternoon, and 10 minutes right before going to sleep.

Another important way to improve HRV is getting a minimum of seven hours of sleep opportunity per night. Sleep is a force multiplier, meaning it has a disproportionately positive impact on HRV and performance.

Also, learning to reframe how you perceive stress or negative events can be hugely impactful. You can't stop stress happening in your life, a work email and tight deadline an argument at home, etc. But the way your respond to these daily micro stressors will have a massive impact on your HRV and overall quality and longevity of life.

Finally, improving fitness levels with a daily movement plan, when combined with good nutrition, proper hydration, breath-work, and gratitude, all lead to HRV improvement. The good news is you can improve your HRV by establishing new healthy habits over time.

PS. If you want to delegate optimising your health, performance and cognitive function drop me a DM with the word 'ACTION' and I will give your more details.