How to use HRV to improve your conditioning—while avoiding burnout and injuries
After 20 years of using HRV, if there’s one thing I can say with absolute certainty, it’s that when used effectively, it’s an invaluable tool for improving your conditioning. In my experience, it’s the “effectively” part where most people struggle. They’re not quite...
The Beginner’s Guide to HRV and Recovery
Ten years ago, when I used to give a talk to a room full of fitness people, I’d often ask how many of them were using heart rate variability (HRV). When nobody would raise their hand, I’d ask how many of them knew what HRV even was. A couple of hands usually went up,...
3 Ways to Fix Heart Rate Training
Back in 2008, I convinced Polar to give me one of their Polar Team 2 heart rate monitoring systems in exchange for helping to spread the word about how to use heart rate monitoring with teams. I quickly put up a big TV in the gym and started connecting it all...
5 Key Strategies to Improve Your Conditioning
To build conditioning to the highest levels takes only two things: consistent effort and the right program. Over the years, I’ve found that most people that come to me because they need to improve their conditioning haven’t been falling short because they weren’t...
How to make a conditioning comeback
Everyone loves a good comeback story. Back in 2004, I got to be part of an epic comeback by one of the greatest Japanese fighters of all time, Hayato Sakurai. If you’re not a long-time fight fan, you’ve probably never heard of Sakurai. In the late 90’s, he was widely...
A better way to build programs: understanding the stress-recovery cycle
When my older brother first introduced me to lifting weights in the 7th grade, I was instantly hooked. Like most people back then, I turned to the popular bodybuilding and fitness magazines to learn how to train. In those days, there was no internet, no social media,...