Dr. Andy Galpin

Remember, when you breathe in, heart rate goes up. When you breathe out, it goes down. And so let's say when you took a breath in, you went to 80 and you took a breath out and it went to 40. 80 minus 40 is 40. So therefore your amplitude is 40. One thing that you'll see is people that are really well-trained physically have a really big amplitude.

People can go like a well-trained individual, cardiovascularly fit individual might have a resting heart rate of 40 and they might jump from 40 to like 90. So that amplitude would be 50 or someone who's not very physically fit might go from 60 to 70. My amplitude is 10. I know I'm throwing a lot of numbers and most of you are listening, so that's hard to follow along.

People can go like a well-trained individual, cardiovascularly fit individual might have a resting heart rate of 40 and they might jump from 40 to like 90. So that amplitude would be 50 or someone who's not very physically fit might go from 60 to 70. My amplitude is 10. I know I'm throwing a lot of numbers and most of you are listening, so that's hard to follow along.

But just the amplitude, the difference, your ability of your heart rate to go from really high to really low within one breath cycle is a positive thing. That is indicative of a really, really resilient nervous system. And remember, from the very beginning, that's what we're talking about today. The HRV score itself, again, cool, it's on there, but it's the bottom list.

But just the amplitude, the difference, your ability of your heart rate to go from really high to really low within one breath cycle is a positive thing. That is indicative of a really, really resilient nervous system. And remember, from the very beginning, that's what we're talking about today. The HRV score itself, again, cool, it's on there, but it's the bottom list.

So that's what we're optimizing for. And I needed to draw that little technical detail out there because I wanted to make sure that it's landing so deeply in your brain that we're trying to go after that resilience, not the score. And those other two measures, that frequency power and that heart rate amplitude, are the things that are more important than just that HRV score.

So that's what we're optimizing for. And I needed to draw that little technical detail out there because I wanted to make sure that it's landing so deeply in your brain that we're trying to go after that resilience, not the score. And those other two measures, that frequency power and that heart rate amplitude, are the things that are more important than just that HRV score.

So more to be said about the resident breathing thing, but it's just really phenomenal area that we love. I wish I had something to do with those companies. I don't, but they're just phenomenal products. So I wanted to make sure you had some specific example of something you could go try that I personally used and that I like.

So more to be said about the resident breathing thing, but it's just really phenomenal area that we love. I wish I had something to do with those companies. I don't, but they're just phenomenal products. So I wanted to make sure you had some specific example of something you could go try that I personally used and that I like.

Last thing I wanted to mention, and this is what some of you might deem to be outrageous, but again, full disclosure here, I have one of these things. I don't have anything to do with the company. But this is something that I've seen pop up a lot. I was just traveling around the country recently and saw a bunch of different professional and other groups using it.

Last thing I wanted to mention, and this is what some of you might deem to be outrageous, but again, full disclosure here, I have one of these things. I don't have anything to do with the company. But this is something that I've seen pop up a lot. I was just traveling around the country recently and saw a bunch of different professional and other groups using it.

I have one at my home, and this is a chair called the Shift Wave. It is $10,000, but it is phenomenal. You lay in this chair, it has haptic feedback, so it will vibrate. It has sensory control, what you're seeing. what you're hearing, and it has a whole bunch of programs, it will directly measure your heart rate and HRV.

I have one at my home, and this is a chair called the Shift Wave. It is $10,000, but it is phenomenal. You lay in this chair, it has haptic feedback, so it will vibrate. It has sensory control, what you're seeing. what you're hearing, and it has a whole bunch of programs, it will directly measure your heart rate and HRV.

And you can do guided biofeedback through, again, movement, through light and sound and a bunch of different strategies. I've used it a bunch. We use it a lot with... against special groups of individuals, and it's been really impressive.

And you can do guided biofeedback through, again, movement, through light and sound and a bunch of different strategies. I've used it a bunch. We use it a lot with... against special groups of individuals, and it's been really impressive.

So those of you that just want to know what the best in the world are doing behind the scenes, I can't say that everyone's doing it, but I know some are, and it is really pretty awesome. And so there you go. Check out the Shiftwave chair if you'd like. If that is completely ridiculous, you'd like $10,000 for a chair, I totally get it.

So those of you that just want to know what the best in the world are doing behind the scenes, I can't say that everyone's doing it, but I know some are, and it is really pretty awesome. And so there you go. Check out the Shiftwave chair if you'd like. If that is completely ridiculous, you'd like $10,000 for a chair, I totally get it.

And so we'll move on to our last couple of things that I just couldn't leave off the table. No good podcast can be done without talking briefly, and I do mean very briefly, about supplements. First and foremost, what we're talking about here mostly are acute benefits. Take caffeine, take a stimulant. You're going to change sympathetic drive, and you all know that.

And so we'll move on to our last couple of things that I just couldn't leave off the table. No good podcast can be done without talking briefly, and I do mean very briefly, about supplements. First and foremost, what we're talking about here mostly are acute benefits. Take caffeine, take a stimulant. You're going to change sympathetic drive, and you all know that.

But what's more interesting and I dove into a lot of was what do we know about chronic benefits? So if you're in that hole and HRV is way down for a long time, can supplements do much to bring you out of that hole and bring that HRV back up, bring that respiratory rate down or however we're defining autonomic control? The short answer is no. Not really.