EP 24 ‘Relationships Between Heart Rate Variability, Occupational Performance, and Fitness for Tactical Personnel’ with Coilin Tomes

Welcome to Episode 24 of the Trainer’s Bullpen, ‘Relationships Between Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Occupational Performance, and Fitness for Tactical Personnel’ with Colin Tomes.

For years law enforcement trainers have sought to understand the relationship between heart rate and officer performance and have frequently, and incorrectly, applied a linear application from heart rate to performance decrements under conditions of high stress.

If you are interested in refining your understanding of cardiovascular function and human performance, this interview is for you.

In this interview, Colin outlines the findings of his Systematic Review that was published in Frontiers in Public Health. This interview touches on:

·     The important differences between HR and HRV and how they correlate, or don’t correlate, to human performance in tactical populations.

·     Understanding the often misunderstood ‘stress response’ and the relationship between stress arousal and performance.

·     The role that sleep plays in maintaining a healthy HRV and improving the arousal / performance relationship.

·     The important interaction between PNS and SNS as they relate to cardiovascular function and performance.

·     The relationship between ‘cognitive load’ and the adverse affect on HRV.

·     How HRV monitoring by agencies can provide an accurate indication of the stress arousal state of the performer.

·     Concepts for agencies to explore in implementing HRV monitoring in both candidate selection for specialty tactical units as well as in-training monitoring of HRV.

·     And many more important takeaways!

Reminder - you can access and download a copy of the cited research paper at www.trainersbullpen.com