hrv and touch

HUGS ARE BIOLOGICALLY POWERFUL AND INCREASE YOUR HRV

What is HRV - HEART RATE VARIABILITY?

HRV measures the state of your nervous system. It measures the tiny variations in the time between heartbeats. A higher HRV generally means your parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest) is active and you’re well-recovered. A lower HRV usually means more sympathetic (fight-or-flight) drive, stress, or fatigue. So, HRV is less about “how fit you are” and more about how balanced your nervous system is right now.

A Higher HRV is a nervous system that can bend without breaking — able to respond to stress and then return to recovery.

What Actually Helps HRV Improve

• Consistent low-intensity (Zone 2 / MAF-style) cardio helps expand your aerobic base without as much sympathetic stress.

• Adequate recovery & sleep, this is the biggest driver of higher HRV.

• Breathwork / Yoga / Meditation is parasympathetic “training” that directly improves HRV.

• Cutting back on stimulants & alcohol is often the game changer in reducing your daily HRV score.

When it comes to HRV, comparison really is the thief of joy! There is no single “good” HRV number that everyone should be aiming for.

HRV varies enormously from person to person and is influenced by age, genetics, fitness, sleep, stress, hormones, medications and overall health. One person may naturally have an HRV of 30 ms while another sits at 70 ms—and both may be perfectly healthy.

What matters most is your personal baseline and your trend over time.

If your HRV is consistently around 40 and suddenly drops to 25, your body may be telling you something: perhaps you haven’t recovered from a workout, you’re fighting an illness, you’re under unusual stress, you drank alcohol, or you simply didn’t sleep well.

Likewise, seeing your HRV gradually improve relative to your baseline can be a sign that your body is adapting and recovering well.

So don’t compare your HRV to your partner, your running buddy or someone on Instagram. Compare you to you.