The Forgotten Metric For Boosting Longevity & Fitness - Dr Leah Lagos

Unlocking Your Elite Self: The Power of Heart Rate Variability with Dr. Leah Lagos

In this insightful podcast episode, Dr. Leah Lagos, a renowned expert in heart rate variability (HRV) and a licensed psychologist, shares her groundbreaking research and practical strategies for optimizing your autonomic nervous system for peak performance, resilience, and well-being. Dr. Lagos's unique approach combines deep scientific understanding with actionable techniques, making HRV accessible and empowering for individuals from all walks of life.

Core Concepts and Philosophies

Dr. Lagos emphasizes the importance of understanding HRV as a dynamic measure of your body's adaptability and resilience. She explains that HRV reflects the variability in time between each heartbeat, and a wider range indicates a more flexible and responsive autonomic nervous system. She introduces the concept of "resonant sinus arrhythmia" - the natural increase in heart rate during inhalation and decrease during exhalation, highlighting its crucial role in regulating our physiological and mental states. Dr. Lagos's philosophy emphasizes a bottom-up approach to stress management, suggesting that training your autonomic nervous system to become more flexible can lead to improved mental clarity, emotional regulation, and a more resilient response to stressors.

Practical Strategies and Advice

* **Optimize Your Autonomic Nervous System:** Dr. Lagos recommends a 10-12 week HRV training program involving 15 minutes of resonant frequency breathing twice a day. This practice strengthens your baroreflex gain, the mechanism that regulates heart rate and blood pressure, leading to greater autonomic flexibility. * **Calibrate Your Elite Self:** Track your HRV using wearable devices or apps like Aura Ring, Elite HRV, or Polar straps to identify variables that affect your HRV (e.g., sleep, alcohol, exercise, stress). This data helps you understand what amplifies your HRV and what detracts from it, enabling personalized optimization. * **Incorporate Power Fives:** Practice 5 breaths focusing on the feeling of fresh air during inhalation and releasing stress or anxiety with every exhalation. These "power fives" can be used on-demand during moments of anxiety or regularly throughout the day for ongoing calibration. * **Harness Nasal Breathing:** While some studies highlight the benefits of nasal breathing, Dr. Lagos recommends experimenting to see what breathing patterns work best for you. She emphasizes that the inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth can be particularly effective for maximizing HRV, especially for endurance athletes. * **Prioritize Sleep:** Dr. Lagos emphasizes the crucial role of sleep in regulating HRV. She suggests aiming for 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night to optimize your autonomic nervous system's ability to recover and adapt. * **Explore Additional Practices:** Dr. Lagos shares that various practices like sound baths, acupuncture, and even energy healing can positively impact HRV. However, she stresses the importance of identifying personalized strategies based on individual responses and measurements.

Supporting Evidence

Dr. Lagos draws upon extensive research supporting the link between HRV and various health outcomes, including cardiovascular health, longevity, cognitive function, and resilience. She highlights studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of HRV training in improving autonomic flexibility, stress management, and overall well-being. She also cites research on the impact of sleep, exercise, and various interventions on HRV, providing a scientific foundation for her recommendations.

Personal Application

Dr. Lagos shares that she personally practices resonant frequency breathing for 15 minutes twice a day and uses her HRV data to understand her own individual responses to different variables. She also emphasizes the role of mindfulness in enhancing HRV, advocating for connecting to a feeling of safety or love during the exhalation phase of her breathwork practice.

Recommendations for Tools and Techniques

* **Wearable Devices:** Dr. Lagos recommends exploring HRV-measuring wearables like Aura Ring, Elite HRV, and Polar straps for continuous monitoring and data collection. * **Breath Pacer Apps:** Use breath pacer apps for guided resonant frequency breathing practice. * **Heart Breath Mind Book:** Dr. Lagos's book provides a comprehensive guide to HRV training and practical strategies for optimizing your autonomic nervous system. * **Website:** Visit Dr. Lagos's website, drleahlagos.com, for additional resources and information. Dr. Lagos's insights into HRV provide a transformative framework for optimizing your health, resilience, and performance. By embracing her practical strategies and engaging in personalized HRV exploration, you can unlock your elite self and thrive in a world that often demands adaptability and inner strength.