Episode 56: Stop Resting, Start Recovering: The Science of HRV and Loading

We are fast approaching "National Quitters Day." Research shows that by January 9th, most people will have abandoned their New Year's resolutions. Why? Because the "grindset" of waking up at 5:00 AM, cutting carbs, and crushing yourself in the gym is unsustainable without one key component: Recovery.

In this episode, We break down what recovery actually means. They discuss why "resting" doesn't fix tendon pain, why you need to track your Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and the difference between a "Hardware" injury and a "Software" problem. If you want to make it past January, this episode is your blueprint.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• National Quitters Day: Why the "all or nothing" approach in January leads to burnout in less than three weeks.
• What Gets Measured Gets Managed: Why you need to track data (like HRV and sleep) rather than just guessing how you feel.
• HRV 101: What Heart Rate Variability is, and why a "chaotic" heartbeat is actually a sign of good health.
• The Tendon Trap: Why resting a tendon injury (like patellar tendinitis) often makes it worse, and why "loading" is the real cure.
• Hardware vs. Software: Why your brain (the software) needs months of rehab even after the bone or ligament (the hardware) has healed.
• The Math of Recovery: Simple formulas for hydration (ounces per minute of exercise) and protein intake (grams per pound of body weight).

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Disclaimer: Although we are healthcare providers, we are not YOUR healthcare provider. Content is for educational purposes only. Please consult your physician before making lifestyle changes.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:01

Welcome to the podcast. A podcast by healthcare on how to navigate your health The podcast is hosted by Mike Bruno, a chiropractor and athletic trainer, and me, Michael Stan, an athletic trainer and certified strength conditioning specialist. Although we are healthcare providers, we are not your healthcare provider. We will discuss general health interventions in this podcast, but you should not take that as health advice that works in every situation. Before doing anything on your changes, please consult with This podcast and podcast are and our own opinions. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your listening platform and or like subscribe to our podcast at YouTube. Links to our show can be found in the show notes on any platform that you're listening to. Today we're going to talk about New Year's resolutions. People are going to go red light probably go, hopefully not fail, Yeah. Like, you know, it's like I'm of the week for thirty days, and I'll get five hours of sleep. You know, I'm going to stop no I'm going to do whatever it takes just to get the body that I want. I think I think January ninth is It's nine days. I think so. I could be wrong on that. But, you know, we're a nation of What do you mean you didn't Um, so this this I did the anti Okay. I slept until noon. Damn good for you. I so, like, talk about recovery. Actually posted on my my I did the long run and then I And then I actually slept. I stayed in bed for nine and a And in order to do that with a going to bed at seven thirty and Obviously I was in bed nine and I was awake for like an hour of And it was awesome because, like, I wear my Garmin watch to bed. It gives me a bunch of you're completely recharged now. All those all those six and a all to five hours wiped away. You got your your good sleep. Yeah, I, I did this sleep quiz parts of your day are most your day you're going to like, Oh. What? What's. Yeah. Hold on. I had the app for a little bit. We're not sponsored here, Mikey. I'm not saying. Oh, you can't you can't give it Giving them free publicity. Oh. Okay. Um, but the, uh, it sends me, like, alerts on my phone, and it says, hey, whatever you need to get done today between this hour and this hour, you should go do it now. Yeah, I thought that was cool. No, I had the same app because I like, my day was all screwed up it was telling me to, like, your was like nine to. It was like nine to noon or And then it would be like at nine a m, stop drinking caffeine. Uh, which, like I actually do So it actually wasn't wasn't a But it was cool to see it because it did make you think of like, oh, you know, like, right, right now I'm working on a presentation. All right. I should actually do the bulk of that work during the late morning. It can be helpful in, in a lot be super not helpful is it? Makes the excuse that much So I had a hoop for a while. Oops, I said it. Oh no, I mean I said Garmin. Yeah, not sponsored, but I hated I had a couple drinks and I wake up and see if I didn't have let's go work out. It might not be the best one ever, but, you know, get something done. When I see it, it's like all battery is twenty percent. I'm like, that's not healthy. I shouldn't be working out with I'm going to skip it today. Yeah. And like maybe that's what we If you're not appropriately feeling great that day, you can they'll just do nothing. Like, you know, I even talk really feeling crappy, like, mobility session, like just go. Yeah, like go walk. I'm gonna keep bringing it up until people keep commenting like, shut up, dude, please walk. Yeah. I think there was a recent start you even get start getting four thousand steps a day. It's crazy. It's crazy. Especially the work from home I can't imagine in theory, like If you're working from home, it steps, but there could be times even get outside. Yeah, and even for like, steps and like, you could have some, it's like, oh, I do my CrossFit workout at five a m and then I go home and I work from home for twelve hours. And if you don't ever get back outside, That's also not great for you. One hundred percent. I actually have that Especially with rehab. Mhm. Talking about it more as a software problem than a hardware problem. Meaning hey nothing's torn or broken or physically like destroyed. So it's a software problem. So all the pain and symptoms you're having are reprogramming the brain. The best way to reprogram the which takes reps. And it's much better to do sprinkle that throughout the day. So if you're going to do three PM is going to be better than in at one time. Yeah, yeah. Just gives you an opportunity to Even when it comes to like You learn faster that way. Yeah. Oh, yeah. For sure. Practice and repetitions. Um, the. So like, I talk about, like, where the research is on like it's actually the. It's like you resting for tendon pain will not make a difference because tendons don't respond to rest. They actually respond to load. They like that's like that's So when you're told all right. Yeah. You got a patella tendinitis. Um, it should be called Usually it's not inflamed I I thought it was ligament this You don't remember that? Yes. Yes, I know what you're talking Um, so this is the nerdiest Patellar ligament or patellar There really is no argument, but just to ruffle feathers. Our professor said it. What? Freshman year? Sophomore year. And I bring it up as often as I So if anyone's curious, I know want to look into this. So go ahead. And yeah, it's a patella. Tendon or ligament. Yeah. Um, but anyway, if you have that yeah, like, just take her off little bit, but like, you didn't So it's not going to change how And then kind of going off of that, that's kind of where you probably have to look at form, because a lot of times it's more of a what's going on in your hips. What are you doing functionally. Because, right, that tendon is a So if you start kind of shifting a shear force to it, when you're that's just it's not going to So that's like where it's it's talked about it before, some of injuries I'll say pain. I don't think I've had an injury day in his life. Not not once. Except for the one time I fell That's not talk about that. Um. That's so funny. You brought that up. Yeah. Uh, but ask me the story, I No, no, I know we'll we'll move Uh, but. Right. You you gotta load the tendon Right. You can't don't take the rest. Recovery is loading one hundred Yeah. When I when I think about I joints are smart. So we have to have good position it to do. That's step number one. Step number two is okay in the good position can we load without symptoms. And sometimes if you can't comes into play. Because that pressure can simulate that in a way to get you to bridge that gap and get you there. Um, but there's a lot of ways, if you can, if you work with someone who uses pressure as a tool, it can be highly effective. Oh, yeah. Really easy examples like a So, yeah, my back hurts without Back feels great with it. That's a pressure response. Yeah, I think a lot of people like you find a lot of people and then you have other people they're like all manual therapy. And it's like you know as a combination of the two. And I think what people get lost They'll be like there's no research on it, blah blah blah blah blah. Like we don't know, those And it's like, well, yeah, because try researching manual therapy. Like try doing a research therapy thing that is done It's just not going to exist in They just like press on dead pig Yeah. How is that research? Yeah I digress. Um, but the oh, I had a good Yeah. What were we just talking about? Oh, the the topics recovery. Um. Oh, wait a second. No, I, I used to be that guy where I, I don't need to touch you. Exercise is you. I think we all go through that. Where? Especially us coming from the, um, athletic training, where we learned a bunch of manual therapy and then, like, we swung back the opposite way, and some of it could have been like, wow, this manual therapy is a lot of hard work. And did I actually, like, make a So then you just go completely like, hey, I'll try. Maybe I'll do cupping on you Like, I know that's not give it a shot. And they're like, I'm the best Then you're like, oh, and that right time, right person, right moment. That work, that intervention Yeah, manual therapy is a tool So using it in the right way is It's not hey this hurts. So I'm just going to push on it. Mhm. And sometimes that gets Now it's the question is okay How are we going to keep it. Yeah. Then that's where the exercise. Yeah. And and it's educating them on Like it's knowing that this will But it'll help us bridge the gap It's a window of opportunity. Just opens the door, which is Windows don't open doors. Um, yeah. Two different analogies got You cannot open a door with a That's fair. Where can you? Are there more doors or wheels Oh, God. Dude, that was so five years I had a very heated debate on my last soccer trip with all the guys. Did you? Yeah. Um, one of them, his. All of his, uh, siblings went to He was thinking up mathematical He was. And he ended up picking the same See an athletic or sports He's an athlete. He's a student athlete. He's a player. Yeah, yeah. Damn good for him. Um, that's almost not fair. Any Hoosier recovery? Recovery. So I'm going to go through, And even it's like, I feel like wearable, whether it's Garmin Uh, I mean. Fitbit is like the OG one and Like every there's so many these wearables that are going some recovery numbers that like to sleep with it, they're going So the the one that like go real measured gets managed what gets Yeah. So if you don't know these metrics, there's no way to control them. And like you have a grasp of Then you can put variables to Yeah. And like right. They they all essentially will They'll let you know how much time you get. And it's like you could think Oh I go to bed nine nine pm and go break it down and it's like, then you're up several times. You're actually not getting a Um, and so like that, that some of the stuff they have to take into consideration. And then one of the so, like a your heart rate variability, measurement to show if you're to workout or day to day. Yeah. How would you explain HRV in has no idea it is? I mean, it's the very it's how. It's the variation in heartbeats So. Right. Maybe common sense. You would think that it means. Okay, so your heartbeats should be kind of always happening synchronously. So right at one hundred heart beats per minute or say sixty heart beats per minute, that means you have one heartbeat every second. But that's not technically how It could be one, one a second, little bit longer. It's in much more. It's in milliseconds. So the variation is going to be way different but shorter or longer, right. Yeah. So you actually want that to You want the variation different because that kind of respond to anything. When your heart's all over the It's actually a good thing Right, we're not talking about you gotta remember these are measurements over a long period of time. Heart rate variability actually like weeks of data to actually Right. What if you say your heart rate Well, an EKG, when they really patterns and whatnot, you don't all over the place. They do need to hit certain a heart rate that within a between forty and sixty is like You want it to kind of be That will tell you that you'll Now everyone has their own baseline that that's that's something else to think about it. So like you could have someone seventy and that's okay. Mhm. So exercise will make that And that's a good thing. Go up or down depending on how much stress you've had leading into it. So generally good is what I'm HRV is good because it shows you Typically, as that number goes a good spot. However, if it goes way too far say ten milliseconds, that's actually be recovered enough. How is your sleep? What's your nutrition like? Did you have alcohol the day Did you crack yourself up on Because caffeine can can affect Mhm. That tells me my dog is very pillow a lot. And her heart beats are like boom boom boom. I don't know I don't know about heart, dogs, hearts, but uh, I'm running hearts. Um, but yeah. So I think it's an important have that like, you can look at you said, you got to start it actually plays a case in your Right. Sleep nutrition, um, how much How much water you have a day. Like the first step to solving you have a problem. So that's all that those things It's being aware of hey, my sleep's good, but according to good as I thought. Yeah, it's it's actually interesting with me looking at mine now. It's, you know, it's I've this I've had it for two weeks. So it's like still work. Like it gets it takes like three create baseline data. But right. With a newborn at home I'm It's like five to six and a half And but what's interesting is I crushed deep sleep and that's like and so like I'm at least I'm so I'm so pumped about it because that is where a lot of recovery happens. So yeah, my quantity isn't quite wouldn't tell you that I feel anything like that. And I think it's okay. Like, I personally for six out can function off six hours of sleep. Is it bulky as crap wearing it No. To sleep with it. I have no issues. And actually, like, I set my alarm on it, um, so that, like, it doesn't wake up Courtney, so I, like, buzzes on you or something? Yeah, it just buzzes my wrist. Hmm hmm. Yeah. Doesn't bother people. No, I don't think it's funny watch to sleep for a little bit, like, this feels weird. I don't know how I like it. And then you get over it and Yeah. That's how I felt about my Yeah, wedding. Wedding rings are heavy. That's what I felt. I was like, man, this kind of, like, gets heavy as the day goes on. Like, sometimes if you wear it take this thing off. Yeah, the rubber one. I do this all the time. Yeah. No, mine doesn't come off that Do you have one or no? Yeah. I usually wear that at work just any type of manual therapy or Is that what they are? I think mine's tungsten. Tungsten? Can't go in an X-ray machine Now, what happens if I do? Do you know? Well, like the just the back in No. The back ground that they shoot you against is made of tungsten. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, or the x ray. The inside of the x ray machine Something like that. You'll blow up is essentially Oh, boy. All right. What are recovery tips? Tricks do we have? I mean, I I've written out a couple other ones that like, you know, we hit the basic stuff, but also, you know, hydration, like quick tip, you should have one ounce of water per pound of body weight. And then for every fifteen there's the equation for it, but have six to eight ounces for exercise Of water? Yeah. Of water. Okay. I like that the. I've heard. Try to drink your fluid ounces Right. Yep. Yeah. That, um, and I've also heard I've heard it with kilograms or Uh, it's supposed to be your Yeah. The pounds and body weight is Yeah, yeah. One gram of protein per pound of I'll be perfectly honest. That is very hard to do. Right. You have two kilograms. Would be like roughly half a little more than half if you do the math. So it's like if you're one eighty you can do ninety to one hundred. If it's probably be fine. The the recommended dietary allowance, which is like the number that like the base number everyone should get, is supposed to be like zero point seven, which kind of lines up what you're saying oh point seven grams of protein per pound of body weight. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Like I would say depending on Like for me I'm pretty happy if and twenty grams of protein in, one sixty five. I was having this conversation with the client yesterday and he's like, oh, do I really have to like, track my protein and stuff? And I said, it depends on how you can do very rough math where fist, your personal fist is like So if you're looking at chicken on a big platter, it's like two of those is like a serving for me. I need six of those in a day as That rough math can get you. Again, be aware of how much Like that's step one. If that gets you to your goal, If it doesn't, then getting more Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And obviously with a lot of this couple of weeks to see. Like what what changes are Oh yeah. That's back to New Year's Yeah. Right. When people go to the gym for two weeks, three weeks and don't get results yet and get pissed and quit. It's. What? What would you say to get actual Like what? It ten weeks more. What would you say? So research tells you Takes science tells you at least But like yeah like if that's hypertrophy to probably truly be muscle like architecture change. Yeah. It's it's going to be a couple Yeah. Mira scale. So I would I mean this can go it is not going to be a light different the next day. Mhm. The that's the whole reason we program whatever you want to the process looks like this. Right. Good days and bad days. It doesn't go like a rocket. Yeah. And even a quick note on the back going back to research. We kind of already talked about motor pattern changes. And so let's say, you know, we lot about like low back pain and If you sprain your ankle, those changes are going to start happening. Because why you sprain your You're not going to walk on it You're going to change how you You're going to change how you You're going to change how you You're going to change how you And so that's why even often continue rehabbing it. I want to say, because central for up to three to six months Guess what? That's how long you're actually supposed to keep working on it for. The problem is that a lot of after about two weeks and they I'm just going to tape it now Yeah. So people, a lot of people get Too little for too long and too Yeah. And then they don't get better path of recovery for as long as Yeah, it's like getting, uh, And you have ten days of antibiotics and you cut it at day three. Yeah, some people do it. Um, and now. And now you set yourself up for a crazier bacterial infection because you didn't finish your treatment. Mhm. Exactly. So your, your risk, your risk of Uh what's the stat. The most common predictor of back pain in the future is prior back pain. And that that's essentially across the board for any injury like. And it doesn't even have to be an injury specific to low back pain. Like it could be that any future predictor of an injury anywhere is the previous history of an injury anywhere. Yeah. And a lot of that like a lot of people will hear that and be like, oh, it's like damaged tissue. It's really more from like the, software and programming issue made changes, compensated, different ways to move when it Those patterns aren't helping you do the things that you want to do, and it just they set you up for injury down the road because you're all discombobulated. Yeah. Yeah. So big, big piece of recovery It's also takes a long time. I think that's the issue. Erase all your history. Never get hurt. Yeah. Yeah I think issues everyone got this unrealistic idea that like, oh science and medicine are only getting better. Therefore like we're going to be sooner and do this and that. It's like, no, we've just gotten smarter and like, really the goal should be how can we reduce the risk of re-injury at this point? Reduce the risk? Yeah, I'd never say prevention. I always say risk reduction. Yeah. Yeah. Because it's a it's a fool's game to think you can prevent every injury. That's that's that's it. There's too many things that go go into injury and pain for you to prevent it all one hundred percent. You can always you can always There's there's no guaranteeing But there's stuff that you can reduce the risk of pain and And that is what when it's, hey, that you need to do so that when can go on and do that for the be making progress versus the come in and do your magic on me. And then I leave. Yeah, that person's not going to learn nearly as much, and they're going to be at a much higher risk for ending up right back on that table six months, a year later. Yeah. So I think I don't, I don't I can't think of anything else here. Yeah. Mike drop that. All right. Go fix yourself.