Dr. Andy Galpin

And again, I've intentionally tried to choose these from a wide variety of activities. So let's dive into them. Very first one we're going to start with is exercise. You know about the hormetic stressor effects of exercise, right? You break it down to build it up. Not exactly what happens, but... That's what hormesis is, right? Small insult, come back better. We saw this with cold.

You get really, really cold, you dive into sympathetic drive, which then has this compensatory response into parasympathetic. Same thing here, same thing else. You can look across the research. I've got some papers specifically I pulled up that'll be in the show notes. Strength training, low intensity cardiovascular training, high intensity intervals, all of it works.

You get really, really cold, you dive into sympathetic drive, which then has this compensatory response into parasympathetic. Same thing here, same thing else. You can look across the research. I've got some papers specifically I pulled up that'll be in the show notes. Strength training, low intensity cardiovascular training, high intensity intervals, all of it works.

If you want to directly compare them, looks like high intensity interval training seems to be the best for this specific marker. Same time, if you're doing max effort high intensity intervals every single day, you're going to run into a hole. You're going to run into a wall and it's going to go down eventually. So dose appropriately. We use a little bit of all of it.

If you want to directly compare them, looks like high intensity interval training seems to be the best for this specific marker. Same time, if you're doing max effort high intensity intervals every single day, you're going to run into a hole. You're going to run into a wall and it's going to go down eventually. So dose appropriately. We use a little bit of all of it.

If we feel like somebody is doing way too much high intensity work, we will pull it back and HRV will improve. Respiratory rate will come down. Resting heart rate will come down. I've seen that more times than I can count.

If we feel like somebody is doing way too much high intensity work, we will pull it back and HRV will improve. Respiratory rate will come down. Resting heart rate will come down. I've seen that more times than I can count.

That said, if you're not exercising at all, or you're exercising a little bit or moderate amount, or you don't go that high of intensity very often, we will see the same positive responses by adding high intensity training, whether that's higher intensity strength training, higher intensity interval training, or cardiovascular training. Same thing.

That said, if you're not exercising at all, or you're exercising a little bit or moderate amount, or you don't go that high of intensity very often, we will see the same positive responses by adding high intensity training, whether that's higher intensity strength training, higher intensity interval training, or cardiovascular training. Same thing.

So this is just about the right dose for the right overall experience. Totally dependent upon your lifestyle and sleep and nutrition and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? So not a one size fits all answer here, but pay attention to those things. So overall exercise wins. And this has been, again, documented so many times, I can't even count. Next one on that stop is breath work.

So this is just about the right dose for the right overall experience. Totally dependent upon your lifestyle and sleep and nutrition and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? So not a one size fits all answer here, but pay attention to those things. So overall exercise wins. And this has been, again, documented so many times, I can't even count. Next one on that stop is breath work.

Remember earlier, when you exercise more CO2, so you breathe more, So when you start thinking about it, what is structured breath work doing? It's kind of like manipulating a little bit of a lower level amount of exercise. It makes sense. The same physiology happens. The same basic benefits. It's really consistent. The framework we use to think about it is in three basic steps.

Remember earlier, when you exercise more CO2, so you breathe more, So when you start thinking about it, what is structured breath work doing? It's kind of like manipulating a little bit of a lower level amount of exercise. It makes sense. The same physiology happens. The same basic benefits. It's really consistent. The framework we use to think about it is in three basic steps.

If we're going to implement a specific breathing protocol for somebody, here's how we do it. Again, for these particular purposes. Number one, Before we actually put somebody on a breathing program, we reduce arousal. I said this a while ago now. But this is actually step number one.

If we're going to implement a specific breathing protocol for somebody, here's how we do it. Again, for these particular purposes. Number one, Before we actually put somebody on a breathing program, we reduce arousal. I said this a while ago now. But this is actually step number one.

Before you have to go through this meditation or intentional breathwork protocol, we just got to reduce the sensory input. We have seen this a lot. Go for a walk in nature. No podcast. No music. Not as much time. You can't wake up in the morning, immediately go to your heavy metal music, work for 15 hours, come home, answer emails, and then fall asleep. You can because you burn a lot of energy.

Before you have to go through this meditation or intentional breathwork protocol, we just got to reduce the sensory input. We have seen this a lot. Go for a walk in nature. No podcast. No music. Not as much time. You can't wake up in the morning, immediately go to your heavy metal music, work for 15 hours, come home, answer emails, and then fall asleep. You can because you burn a lot of energy.

You're going to be tired, but that's going to keep you in a pretty high state of arousal. So I'm telling you right now, if you want to do breath work, you're into it, cool. We've had a lot of people who just don't like it. I'd be totally candid with you. I'm not the biggest fan myself personally. Always feels good, always works, but it's not like on my high list of things I enjoy doing every day.

You're going to be tired, but that's going to keep you in a pretty high state of arousal. So I'm telling you right now, if you want to do breath work, you're into it, cool. We've had a lot of people who just don't like it. I'd be totally candid with you. I'm not the biggest fan myself personally. Always feels good, always works, but it's not like on my high list of things I enjoy doing every day.

And so I would rather just be like, man, I need some recovery. It's easier for me to just reduce physical arousal. Give me some more quiet time. No more sensory input for the day. That'll take care of most of it. If that's not enough, the next step we go to is more time doing nasal only breathing. Close your mouth, breathe through your nose.