HRV Overview
An 8-week self-study syllabus and reading guide on heart rate variability and breathing biofeedback for athletic coaching.
Ask GRM
his is an 8-week self-study course on HRV and the brain–body link, built for coaching athletes. It skips the certificate and focuses on what you need to know and use.
Format: Seven lessons (starting with Nervous System 101), ten diagrams, plus a short reading list and weekly practice.
Time: About 3 hours a week: 1 hour reading, 1 hour on a lesson, and 1 hour of practice.
Weeks 1 to 2: How the nervous system and heart work together.
Weeks 3 to 4: What HRV is, how to measure it, and what wearables get right and wrong.
Weeks 5 to 6: Breathing methods and finding each athlete's best breathing pace.
Weeks 7 to 8: Putting it into GRM with athletes, resets, and routines.
Note on your list: The reading list you pasted is for the full Biofeedback certification, which covers many body signals. Only some of it matters for HRV. The review below says what to keep.
The topics follow the same six areas that BCIA-aligned HRV training covers: anatomy and physiology, HRV basics, equipment, HRV measures, training methods, and real-world uses (AAPB).
Reading list review
Read three things closely, skim four, and skip the rest for now. Your list was written for clinicians studying many body signals. You need the HRV, stress, and breathing parts.
Source
Verdict
What to read
Why
Khazan, The Clinical Handbook of Biofeedback (2013)
Read
HRV, breathing, and mindfulness chapters
The clearest step-by-step guide. Pairs biofeedback with mindfulness and acceptance, which fits your CBT work.
Lehrer & Woolfolk, Principles and Practice of Stress Management (2021)
Read
Breathing, HRV biofeedback, and cognitive therapy chapters
Shows how body methods and thinking methods fit together.
Lehrer & Gevirtz, "Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work?" (2014)
Read (free)
All of it
A short, free article on why slow breathing raises HRV. Not on your list, but it's the core idea.
BioSource HRV Biofeedback Tutor ($275)
Optional
The 22 tutorials, at your own pace
Good videos and animations if you learn by watching. Not needed if you read the books.
Schwartz, Biofeedback: A Practitioner's Guide (2017)
Skim
Breathing and HRV chapters only
A big reference book. Most chapters cover other signals.
Tan et al., Evidence-Based Practice in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback (2024)
Skim
Sections on anxiety, stress, and performance
Shows how strong the research is for each use. Helps you avoid overpromising.
BCIA Professional Standards and Ethical Principles (2016)
Skim
Scope of practice and referral
A quick read on staying in your lane.
Hagedorn, "Infection Risk Mitigation" (2014)
Skim
All (3 pages)
Useful if athletes share sensors.
BCIA Blueprint for Board Certification in Biofeedback (2015)
Skip
—
Covers the full certification, not HRV.
Advanced list (Andreassi, Cacioppo, Julien, Moss) and the EEG section
Skip for now
—
Deep textbooks and brainwave training. Revisit later if you want more depth.
One more free read: Shaffer and Ginsberg's "An Overview of Heart Rate Variability Metrics and Norms" (2017, Frontiers in Public Health) explains the HRV numbers wearables report. I'm recommending it from my own knowledge; I didn't open it for this plan.
Weekly learning path
Each week has one lesson from this doc, one reading, and one practice task. The readings are optional; the lessons stand on their own. Start whenever you're ready; the weeks can stretch if a busy season hits.
Week
Lesson
Reading
Practice
1
Lesson 0: Nervous System 101, then Lesson 1: The gas pedal and the brake
Khazan: intro and physiology chapters
Wear your chest strap each morning and note your HRV and how you feel.
2
Lesson 2: How the heart and brain talk
Lehrer & Gevirtz (2014) article
Notice your body under stress at work or in a game. Name one signal each day.
3
Lesson 3: What HRV is
Shaffer & Ginsberg (2017) article
Compare your morning HRV to your sleep, stress, and workouts. Look for patterns.
4
Lesson 4: Wearables, what to trust
Schwartz: HRV chapter (skim)
Check your device's HRV against how you feel for a week. Write down where they disagree.
5
Lesson 5: Slow breathing and resonance
Khazan: breathing and HRV chapters
Find your best breathing pace with the step-down test in Lesson 5.
6
Lesson 5 continued, plus Lesson 6 intro
Lehrer & Woolfolk: breathing chapter
Breathe at your pace 10 minutes a day, every day.
7
Lesson 6: Mind and body together
Lehrer & Woolfolk: cognitive therapy chapter
Add a breathing step to your ARC Reset and try it yourself under pressure.
8
Lesson 6 continued: using it with athletes
Tan et al.: stress and performance sections; BCIA ethics (skim)
Teach the breathing reset to 2 or 3 athletes and collect their feedback.
Lessons
Each lesson has its own tab, written for someone starting from zero. Every term is explained, with game examples and self-check questions with answers.
New to this field? Start here: Lesson 0: Nervous System 101, a primer on nerve cells, the parts of the nervous system, key brain areas, and the stress response, with diagrams.
Lesson 1: Gas pedal and brake
Lesson 2: Brain and body talk
Lesson 3: What HRV is
Lesson 4: Wearables
Lesson 5: Slow breathing
Lesson 6: Mind and body together
Stuck on a word? Check the Glossary.
Do you need the books?
No. The seven lessons, plus two free articles, cover what you need to coach athletes with HRV and breathing. The books add depth, but they're optional.
Free and enough to start: these lessons, the Lehrer & Gevirtz article, and the Shaffer & Ginsberg article.
If you buy one book: Khazan's Clinical Handbook of Biofeedback. It's the most practical and closest to how you coach.
Borrow before you buy: check a library or a university library for Lehrer & Woolfolk and Schwartz. You only need a few chapters of each.
Why the lessons don't copy the books: I wrote the lessons in my own words from widely known science. I can't reproduce the books' text, but I can explain any topic from them in more depth if you ask.
Quick reference card
The whole course on one page, for use before sessions with athletes.
Gas pedal: sympathetic branch. Speeds up for action.
Brake: parasympathetic branch, mainly through the vagus nerve. Calms and recovers.
HRV: variation between heartbeats. Higher than your own normal usually means recovered.
Compare to yourself: never rank athletes by HRV.
Trust trends, not single days: use a 5-to-7-day average.
Best breathing pace: about 6 breaths a minute, roughly 4 seconds in and 6 out. Each person's ranges from about 4.5 to 7.
Low and slow: small belly breaths, long exhale, no gulping.
Body first, then mind: breathe, then use the focus cue.
Practice daily: 10 to 20 minutes builds the skill used in 3 breaths during a game.
Stay in your lane: performance and stress only. Refer medical or mental health concerns.
Sources
AAPB / Optimal HRV, BCIA-aligned HRV Biofeedback Training (topic areas)
Lehrer & Gevirtz (2014), Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work?
BioSource Software, HRV Biofeedback Tutor
BioSource Software, BCIA HRV certification overview
Core reading list provided by Scott (BCIA Board Certification in Biofeedback)
Lesson content is written from widely accepted HRV and stress physiology. Check details against the readings before teaching them as fact.
About the author
Scott K. Wilder is the founder of Game Ready Mindset™, a program and platform for teams and athletic programs, working with players, position groups, and teams in baseball, soccer, softball, and volleyball. He holds a Master’s from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University), an MBA from New York University, and a Master’s in International Studies and Conflict Resolution from The Johns Hopkins University, with coaching credentials from Georgetown University, Brian Cain’s MPM Program, the National Federation of High Schools, and FC Barcelona Football Club. He is the author of Millennial Leaders, Find What Energizes You (just published), and Compete in Any Weather.