HRV serves as an indicator of the time intervals between successive heartbeats, measuring the variability in these intervals. The autonomic nervous system governs this variability. A higher HRV generally indicates a more flexible and responsive autonomic nervous system, which is associated with better sleep, stress resilience, athletic performance, and mental health.
Resonant coherent breathing (RCH) is technique that involves breathing approximately 6 breaths/min. Studies have shown that resonant coherent breathing can increase HRV with regular practice. I implemented 20 minutes of RCH every night starting the 29th of January to see if it had an impact on my HRV.
Since physical activity and sleep are factors that can affect your autonomic nervous system and therefore your HRV, I wanted to see how this influenced recovery. Unfortunately, no patterns were found with the RCH breathing exercises, but a pattern can be seen on rest and recovery needs after more physically taxing days, which I used calories burned to determine.