An Expert Guide To HRV & How To Improve It - Joel Jamieson | Modern Wisdom Podcast 264

We've kind of been fed this idea that you just need high intensity all the time. Unfortunately, you need more than that because you can only do high intensity for so long before you break and you need something in between. And so those lower and more moderate intensity sessions allow you to do more volume, to get more stimulus-

Mm-hmm.

... without breaking yourself. So you need that balance. So your average person, if they just spend four or five days a week, up to six for higher levels, and they're consistently doing some form of aerobic training, you know, the majority of time they're doing lower, more moderate intensity work, 30, 40 minutes, sometimes more, sometimes less, and then they're spending maybe two days a week doing those higher intensity intervals and they are getting their heart rates up towards maximum and they consistently do that, you will see your HRV consistently climb, guarantee you. (wind blows)

I wanted to dig into HRV today. HRV is, like, the hot new girl in school at the moment, I think-

Yeah, you know, it's, uh, it's-

... in terms of the metrics.

... it's funny because I've been using it since, like, the early 2000s. And I used to go into a presentation and I'd, I'd say, "Who here is using HRV?" Or, "Who's got an HRV?" And people would look at me like I was asking about an STD or something because they just had no clue-

(laughs)

... what the hell the thing was back then, right? Uh, but, but yeah, now it's everywhere. Apple Watch has got it, and people are talking about it. It's, it's, you know, it's such a, a big change from where it was, like I said, 15, 20 years ago when I was first getting into it. So it's, it's ex- it's exciting to see because it's a valuable metric. It's, it's one of the few pieces of fitness tech that truly can change people's outcomes and have them, you know, get better results.

You were ahead of the curve, man. Trendsetter.

(smacks lips) Yeah, I mean, it was... I was just, uh, you know, I wish I claimed that it was entirely intentional, but I just kind of stumbled upon to it. And once I did, then I immediately saw the value and, and jumped into it. But I would never have predicted, you know, way back then it would be- get as popular as it is now. So it's, uh, you know, it's definitely been a, a journey to get there, for sure.

How did you get started with it?

(smacks lips) Yeah, so kind of a crazy story. There was a guy named Randy Huntington, uh, who a lot of people probably are not familiar with, but Randy was a fantastic track coach. He worked with Mike Powell when Mike Powell broke Carl Lewis's, like, 20-year long, uh, long jump world record. And he's a local guy and I'd just kind of come to meet him as a young coach and asked him some, you know, some tips and things he would advise and, you know, just general advice from an old guy to a young guy. And he said, uh, "You should- you need to look at this thing called the Omega Wave." And I was like, "Well, what the hell is the Omega Wave?" And he just kind of gave me a number and said, "Call, call this guy." And so, okay, I'm like, "Okay." So I call this, this number and it's this thick accent, sounds like Russian or Eastern European, and I'm, like, barely understand the guy, but he's telling me to meet him at an airport the next day. So I'm like, (laughs) I'm like, "Am I going to get kidnapped? Like, am I, am I going to sell the guy vodka? Like, what's going on here?" So I go down to the airport and there's this guy in this long trench coat and literally I'm like, "Is this KGB or is this, like, a practical joke? Like, what the hell's going on here?" And he tells me basically in the hotel airport to lay down on the couch and take my shirt off. And I'm s- I'm seriously like, "This makes no sense, but I trust Randy and if I'm go- you know, like, uh, well, okay, I'll go- I'll play along."