Picture this:

You’ve been training hard, HRV looks great (off the charts, even), resting heart rate is so low you’re basically competing with hibernating bears… but in the gym? You feel like trash. We’re talking “why do I even lift, bro?” levels of performance.

Welcome to the bizarre world of parasympathetic overreaching.

Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic 101

Quick refresher. Your nervous system has two main gears:

  • Sympathetic = gas pedal. Fight, flight, deadlift, metal show mosh pit.
  • Parasympathetic = brake pedal. Rest, digest, Netflix coma.

Most people who overtrain get stuck on the sympathetic side. HRV tanks, recovery tanks, sleep turns into a dumpster fire. You’ve probably been there after too many Red Bulls and too many “PR or ER” squat sessions.

But every now and then, the universe flips you the bird and you end up on the other side: parasympathetic overreaching. HRV isn’t low — it’s ridiculously high. Like, “is my Garmin broken?” high.

How to Spot It

If this is you, a few things usually line up:

  • HRV sky high (and not in the “I’m a Zen monk” way).
  • Resting heart rate stupid low.
  • Respiratory rate low.
  • Training performance in the toilet, especially power and speed.

It’s like driving with the emergency brake on. You’re pressing the gas (training), but nothing’s happening. Except now you smell smoke, and it’s not incense from your yoga mat.

Why Does This Happen?

Almost always: endurance athletes.

Not 5×5 squat bros, but the “I ran 80 miles this week because Strava gave me a dopamine hit” crowd. Moderate training volume. Huge mileage. Add in life stress or unresolved junk in the nervous system bucket, and boom — parasympathetic purgatory.

What Do You Do About It?

Here’s the counterintuitive bit: if you’re stuck parasympathetic, the answer isn’t more rest, more naps, or another Netflix season. You need a high sympathetic stressor — a safe, sharp “wake up call” to remind your system what the gas pedal feels like.

Two ways I’ve used with athletes:

1. Trap Bar Isometric Pulls

  • Set the trap bar under safety pins ~2 inches from lockout.
  • Pull as hard as possible against the pins for 5–10 seconds.
  • Zero weight, zero volume — just pure nervous system output.
  • Translation: maximum stress without trashing your muscles.

Check out this YouTube demonstration for how to do them.

2. Cold Water Hit

  • Short exposure (30–60 sec) at ~40–43°F.
  • Full skin contact, ideally up to your neck.
  • Focus on calming your breathing, then get out.
  • Not an ice-bath flex for Instagram. This is neural shock therapy lite.

Other tools? Maybe short Wim Hof breathing rounds (though that’s its own can of worms). Point is: the goal isn’t to chill out more — you’re already too chill. It’s to light the system up without burning it down.

Takeaway for You

If your HRV is sky high but your performance sucks, don’t pat yourself on the back for being “super recovered.” You might be the rare unicorn of parasympathetic overreaching.

Instead of more yoga and naps, you may need a safe jolt — a sympathetic spark — to reset the system.

Much love,
Dr Mike