The Simple Skill That Helps You Recover Faster!
I have a soccer-loving niece named Julia. If you’re wondering, she is named after me! So cool …I know!
Obviously, I’m not Julia…but you can’t get much closer. The real story is that when my sister was pregnant for the first time, she told me she was naming the baby Julia…and I was so touched. What she didn’t know was that I was pregnant, too.
Talk about pressure! If we were going to have a Julia in the family…what was my child’s name going to be in honor of her?
Along came Jensen…and Joseph her SON…two months to the day apart. So there was no Julia that time around. But two years later, here comes the competitive little athlete, Julia. In all of her glory!
I called Julia last week and asked her about soccer. She told me she thought she would play better, and probably play more, if she were in better shape or could recover faster.
That got my attention.
Because she may be right, better conditioning could absolutely help her cover more ground, maintain her speed and handle repeated efforts throughout a game. It could also help her manage pressure better and make better decisions when she’s gassed!
But being in better condition and getting better at recovering aren't exactly the same thing.
And as luck would have it, a new study about this very thing landed in my Friday research review right after our conversation.
You have to love it when the universe delivers your research for you!
A 2026 randomized study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise examined 62 tactical cadets after maximal exercise. Immediately following the effort, participants used cyclic sighing, box breathing or their normal, spontaneous breathing.
Both structured breathing techniques improved recovery in high-frequency heart-rate variability, or HF-HRV, compared with normal breathing.
HF-HRV gives researchers information about parasympathetic influence on the heart. In simpler terms, it can help show whether the body’s recovery system is beginning to come back online after intense work.
However, there was an important catch.
The structured breathing did not make the participants’ heart rates fall faster than normal breathing.
Wait…what?
Haven’t we talked about how controlled breathing can slow heart rate?
Yes, we have. And that is still true. Dedicated breathwork interventions actively drive down physiological stress markers!
Heart rate normally rises slightly as we inhale and falls slightly as we exhale. This natural pattern is called respiratory sinus arrhythmia. When we slow our breathing and extend the exhale, we spend more time in the part of the breathing cycle associated with increased vagal influence and a slower heartbeat.
The diaphragm also plays a role. As it moves, it changes the pressure inside the chest, which affects blood returning to the heart. Those pressure and blood-flow changes interact with the vagus nerve and the baroreflex, the body’s built-in blood-pressure regulation system, to influence the time between heartbeats.
So, controlled breathing can slow heart rate, particularly when we are resting, anxious or psychologically stressed.
But that does not mean every breathing exercise will lower heart rate in every situation, especially when we are pushing our physical limits.
Immediately after maximal exercise, the body still has a lot of work to do. The muscles need oxygen. Carbon dioxide and heat need to be cleared. Blood flow must remain elevated and stress hormones are still circulating.
A few deliberate breaths may begin changing the nervous system’s control of the heart without overriding all those physical demands enough to make the number on a heart rate monitor drop significantly faster…the heart is still a pumping. But this doesn’t mean these breaths are useless in our recovery.
Think of it this way…
Heart rate tells us how fast the engine is running. Heart-rate variability gives us information about how responsive the braking and control system is becoming.
The brake can begin coming back online before the car has noticeably slowed. That is what makes this study so interesting.
The breathing did not magically erase fatigue. It did not replace conditioning, and it did not make the cadets’ hearts slow down faster immediately…because they were spent…and at maximum exertion.
BUT…it appeared to help their nervous systems begin the transition from intense effort toward recovery.
And that transition matters because recovery is about more than our heart rate.
When we are physically taxed, our attention can narrow. Our decisions can become rushed, and our emotional reactions can become bigger. We are more likely to stare at the mistake, miss an open teammate, force the next play or remain stuck in the effort we just completed.
Our body may still be on the last job while the game is already asking us to do the next one.
That brings us back to Julia.
If she makes a long run, loses possession and has to transition immediately to defense, she cannot wait until she feels completely recovered.
The game is still moving.
Instead of asking, “Am I fully recovered?” she needs a more useful question: “Can I recover enough to be ready for my next job?” AND THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
That is a skill we can train. We haven’t talked about it for a while…but we are back to the physiological sigh.
Take one full inhale through the nose. Add a second, shorter inhale through the nose. Then follow it with one long, controlled exhale through the mouth.
The second inhale helps recruit tiny air sacs in the lungs called alveoli. These air sacs are where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. Some alveoli can partially collapse during normal breathing, and the double inhale helps reopen more of them.
The long exhale then supports the release of carbon dioxide and extends the part of the breathing cycle associated with increased parasympathetic influence.
Our bodies already use this pattern naturally. Have you ever watched someone after a hard cry? They take one big inhale…another little inhale on top of it…and then let out a long exhale.
We call it ugly crying. Scientists call it a physiological sigh! Research published in Nature showed that sighing is an essential reflex that helps reinflate alveoli and maintain healthy lung function.
Researchers have also studied what happens when we use the pattern intentionally. In a 2023 randomized study, people who practiced five minutes of cyclic sighing each day experienced improved mood and reduced respiratory rate. It’s a great practice…but takes some discipline at first…that’s why we start with 2 minutes…because that works, too!
Cyclic sighing significantly accelerates autonomic recovery in athletes compared to normal, spontaneous breathing.
A large review of 223 studies found that slow, controlled breathing helped activate the body’s recovery system both during the breathing exercise and afterward. With regular practice, the benefits may continue to build over time.
The takeaway is not that one breath immediately restores the body. The takeaway is that breathing gives us a way to participate in our recovery.
For Julia, this could look like allowing her breathing to settle for a moment after a demanding run, then using one or two physiological sighs as she scans the field and reconnects with the game.
For other athletes, it could mean using 30 to 90 seconds of deliberate breathing:
Between repeated sprints
After a demanding drill
During a substitution
Between innings
After a long rally
During a timeout
Between sets
After an emotionally charged play
Before responding during a difficult conversation
Once the initial gasping settles, athletes can use either the physiological sigh or a controlled breathing rhythm with an extended exhale.
Every game has a pause. Instead of just thinking of an out-of-bounds or side out as a quick break, use it as an active recovery! It’s our shortcut to resetting our nervous system after big effort!!
Then ask: “Are you ready for the next job?” Notice that the question is not, “Are you completely calm?”
We do not always need calm.
A soccer player still needs energy. A pitcher still needs intensity. A performer still needs presence and a leader may still need urgency. The goal of the breath is to help us move from one useful state to the next.
Of course, breathing is only one part of recovery. Conditioning, hydration, nutrition, sleep, active recovery and appropriate rest still matter. Julia may benefit from improving her aerobic fitness and her ability to repeat high-intensity runs.
But while that conditioning develops over weeks and months, she can begin practicing recovery TODAY.
Finish the effort. Organize the breath. Lift the eyes. Find the next job.
This week, choose one place in practice, competition or your workday where you normally remain physically or emotionally revved up after a demanding moment.
Use 30 to 90 seconds of intentional breathing when the opportunity allows. Then check: What is happening in my body? Where is my attention? What does the next job require? Am I ready to go again?
We spend a lot of time training people to work harder. Maybe we should also train them to recover better. How you breathe in the seconds or minutes after a grueling sprint or heavy lift dictates how fast your body shifts from fight-or-flight back into optimal recovery mode.
Recovery is not simply the space between the work. Recovery is part of the work!
Run, Julia! Run!
Manage the moments!
Julie
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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