When we train we put our bodies into a stressed state.

Then we need to recover from that stress. So we go into a rest and recovery state.

The process is controlled by our autonomic nervous system.

(Stressed = sympathetic nervous system)
(Recovery = parasympathetic nervous system)

It's how we evolved. We'd go out to hunt and gather. We're in this stressed, life-or-death situation. Then we'd come back to our cave – our safe place – we'd eat, relax, rest and all that other fun stuff.

The difference between 'stressed' and 'rest' was distinct back then.

Today, it's blurred.

We finish our session. Protein. Shower. Out the door. Off to work. Traffic. Notifications. Emails. Meetings.

So it's harder for our autonomic nervous system to know it's time to recover. Our heart rate stays elevated. The daily stressors of life have started.

And our inability to get into this recovery state means we're not giving our bodies the chance to recover and grow properly.

So what to do?

We need to tell our bodies that we're good. The stress is over. It's time to recover and grow.

What's cool is we can communicate with our autonomic nervous system to do this. And one way is through focused breathing.

Dr Andy Galpin (Professor, PhD and genuine wizard at this stuff) recommends:

• 🌬 After training, do 3-5 mins of exhale-emphasis breathing (4 seconds in through the nose, 8 seconds out)
• 🫁 We want to activate the diaphragm so focus on belly breathing
• 🧘 (This can be hard depending on your environment but) it helps to lie down, close your eyes and put chilled music on (I'm using alpha binaural beats)
• 💜 If you wear a smartwatch, note your heart rate before and after
  

Watch this for a more detailed how-to.

Breathing like this slows our heart rate, sending a signal to the autonomic nervous system that we can relax – kicking the parasympathetic system into gear.

The negative consequences of staying stressed go way beyond being able to recover for our next training.

Because if chronic disease is death by a thousand cuts, stress without recovery is a tiny cut that adds up every day, week, year, every decade.

Breathing for even one minute after training could be one of the most important habits you start for your performance.