Hi Reader,
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Have you ever had one of those days where the workout on your training plan looks totally doable, but your body just… doesn’t cooperate?
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You hit the track or the trail, and within five minutes, you know. Something’s off. The legs feel heavy. The pace feels impossible. Your heart rate is spiking way higher than it should.
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Our training plans are always built on assumptions. It assumes we’ve slept well, that our stress is manageable, that last week’s hard efforts left us ready for this week’s progression.
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Your nervous system, however, keeps the real score. It knows about the work deadline keeping you up. The lingering cold. The three hard weeks you’ve stacked without realizing it. The argument with a loved one that’s still sitting heavy in your chest.
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So what if you could actually see that mismatch before you lace up your shoes?

💓Enter: Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

In case you haven’t heard me screaming from the roof tops lately about all things HRV (because not only is it evidence based, but it has practical results from day one), let’s do a recap:
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HRV is the tiny variation in time between each heartbeat. When you’re well-recovered and ready to perform, those variations are higher. When you’re stressed, fatigued, or fighting off illness, they drop.
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​🚴Think of it like your bike’s suspension:

• High HRV = good suspension that absorbs bumps, adapts to terrain changes, recovers smoothly
• Low HRV = rigid suspension where every bump hits harder

It’s a direct readout of your nervous system’s readiness. Not what should be ready according to your plan, but what your body can actually handle right now.
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Here’s what makes HRV so cool:
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✅ It shows up before you feel it. HRV often drops 24-48 hours before you consciously recognize overtraining or illness. That’s your early warning system.
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✅ It reveals your actual recovery timeline. Your training partner might bounce back in 36 hours. You might need 60.
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✅ It counts ALL stress, not just training stress. A brutal work week can tank your HRV just as much as a hard training block. Your nervous system doesn’t care where the stress comes from, it all adds up.
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✅ It’s simple to track. You can measure your HRV in 1-3 minutes each morning with a smartphone app and a chest strap (or even just your phone’s camera). For anyone with a Garmin, Apple Watch, Oura ring, or Whoop, you’re already collecting this information automatically by wearing your device.
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If you’re looking for an easy way to get started, learning your baseline HRV or starting a daily practice of resonance breathing, is a great first step. Though everyone has a different resonance frequency number, the average across the population is about 6 breaths per minute (4 second inhale and 6 second exhale). You can learn more about it here.​
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​Want to dive in deeper? I wrote a blog post on what HRV actually tells you, why your training plan misses this data, and how to start using it (including what athletes discover when they start tracking). Read the full blog post.​

I’ve opened up a few spots in my schedule for HRV biofeedback work with me directly! If you’ve been curious about working together on nervous system training, or if you’ve tried to get on my calendar before and couldn’t, this might be your opportunity.
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You can grab a free consultation here to chat about whether HRV training makes sense for where you’re at right now.

🎙️ This week on the Feisty Women’s Performance Podcast…

Dr. Gabe Mauren shatters the myth that postpartum depression is “just hormones,” revealing how psychological, social, and identity shifts drive the real challenges. Her about her practical “version 2.0” mindset that helps high‑performing women thrive after birth.
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​🎧Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.​
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​Til next time,
Dr. A

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