This PDF excerpt from The Pulse Cure (Dr Torkil Færø) continues the practical program for using heart-rate-variability (HRV) monitoring to manage stress and improve health. It covers Movement & Exercise (starter programmes for endurance and strength, recovery monitoring, pilgrimage as an intensive strategy), Active Rest (breathing techniques, power naps, mindfulness, and tools like Muse 2), Meals & Diet (low‑carb/flexitarian recommendations, intermittent/time‑restricted fasting, gut microbiome, risks of ultra-processed foods, hydration), Alcohol (sleep disruption, inflammation, WHOOP/Garmin/Oura sensor findings), Illness & Disease (HRV as early warning and recovery guide), Weight control (visceral vs subcutaneous fat, daily weighing), Tobacco (nicotine effects, snus, vaping), and predetermined factors (age, gender, menstruation, seasonal variation). The tone is clinical-practical with patient vignettes and device-guided self-experiments. It also includes an HRV normative table (RMSSD by age and sex) and concrete testing suggestions for users to measure personal responses.
Questions this document answers
Resting heart rate ~15% above normal and HRV reduced ~20%; recovery impact lasted about 4–5 days (per WHOOP study cited).
25–34: Men 39.7±19.9 ms; Women 42.9±22.8 ms. 35–44: Men 32±16.5; Women 35.4±18.5. 45–54: Men 23±10.9; Women 26.3±13.6. 55–64: Men 19.9±11.1; Women 21.4±11.9. 65–74: Men 19.1±10.7; Women 19.1±11.8.