HRV Training
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) accurately measures the tiny, millisecond changes that occur between each heart beat. Research in HRV Training with elite athletes has revealed improvements in stress and emotional control.
The starting point
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is responsible for all your body functions that are automatic such as breathing, sweating, digestion, temperature rising or dropping. The ANS is divided into Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). The SNS is responsible for keeping us alert and ready to act (ex. heart rate increases when under pressure during a match) while the PNS keeps us calm and relaxed (ex. heart rate decreases during a match). Athletes can learn to regulate the balance between SNS and PNS to become alert and relaxed in order to achieve optimal performances under pressure. HRV detects ANS activity (the sympathetic/parasympathetic balance) based on your breathing pattern in real time.The situation
Visualize a game situation where the performance outcome was of utmost importance for you and your team. However, you did not achieve the desired result, due to stress, self-doubt or overexcitement (your ANS was out of balance). How did you react to this stressful situation? When the stakes are high, athletes like yourself can experience quick and shallow breathing, tight muscles, or emotional bursts, which negatively affect your performance. Developing your optimal breathing pattern through HRV Training, will allow you to set your ANS in balance state (relaxed-focused attention) and respond successfully in stressful situations like the one above.
How it works
The procedure consists of 3 stages:1 - Assessment
Using a non-invasive blood volume pulse (BVP) earlobe sensor, we measure your HRV during rest and active state that will shape your resilience profile. 2 -Training
With the same sensor we explore the optimal breathing pattern on resting state. The HRV training sessions continue with game simulations on the computer screen, where the athlete is training to find his balance state through optimal breathing in under pressure situations. 3 - Evaluation
After a desired amount of sessions, we measure the new resilience profile with the earlobe sensor to track the progress of the athlete.
Emotions are reflected in Heart Rate Variability Patterns
