Breathing at around six breaths a minute brings heart rate variability to its maximum
4 studies
The summary today
The figure that circulates in courses rests on something, and it does not come from archers. A systematic review of 15 studies in healthy adults and two further reviews agree: the breathing-linked oscillations of the heartbeat reach their maximum at around 0.1 Hz, that is six breaths a minute, and the value is refined towards 5.5 breaths when inhalation and exhalation last the same. At that rate heartbeat and breath come into phase, and baroreflex sensitivity rises as well. The exact frequency, though, differs from person to person, so six breaths is a starting point rather than a target. One single index, the high-frequency component, gives inconsistent results within that same review, but this is no refutation: below nine breaths a minute that band no longer represents vagal tone well, as the standard methodological review states. On archers there is nothing: nobody has looked for the resonance frequency in an archer, still less on the range with a bow in hand, where in the seconds of the shot the breath is held.
Also phrased as: "six breaths a minute"; "resonance breathing frequency"; "slow breathing and heart rate variability"; "breathing at 0.1 hertz"; "hrv biofeedback and the breath"
In practice
In mental training courses archers are taught to breathe to a count, at around six breaths a minute, as a way of settling down between ends.
Evidence
-
2014
For General population Published later
A review of the mechanisms of heart rate variability biofeedback: the peak of the breathing-linked oscillations of the heartbeat falls at around 0.1 Hz, that is six breaths a minute, and is refined towards 0.09 Hz (5.5 breaths, a breath of about 11 seconds); at that rate heartbeat and breath are in phase, at zero degrees. The authors insist that the resonance frequency is individual, so six breaths is an average. They also report that baroreflex gain rises during sessions and, after about three months of practice twice a day, at rest as well.
Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? · Paul M. Lehrer, Richard Gevirtz
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2017
For General population Published later
A narrative review of the physiological effects of slow breathing in healthy adults: respiratory sinus arrhythmia comes out highest near six breaths a minute, and 5.5 breaths with inhalation and exhalation of equal length increase heart rate variability. At six breaths a minute baroreflex sensitivity also rises and the response to hypoxia and hypercapnia falls. The review reports no effect sizes, and stresses that the best frequency varies from person to person.
The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human · Marc A. Russo, Danielle M. Santarelli, Dean O'Rourke
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2017
Context Review Published later
The standard methodological review of heart rate variability in psychophysiology: the high-frequency band runs from 0.15 to 0.40 Hz, that is from 9 to 24 breaths a minute, and below that rate (as in slow breathing, or in athletes who breathe slowly) it no longer represents vagal tone well. It is what allows the discordant result in the 2018 review to be read for what it is, a limit of the measure.
Heart rate variability and cardiac vagal tone in psychophysiological research – recommendations for experiment planning, data analysis, and data reporting · Sylvain Laborde, Emma Mosley, Julian F. Thayer
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2018
For General population Published later
A systematic review following PRISMA, 15 studies selected from 2,461 abstracts, all in healthy adults aged 18 to 65: the common trend across studies with breathing below ten breaths a minute, whether paced or with biofeedback, is an increase in heart rate variability and in respiratory sinus arrhythmia. One index is the exception, the high-frequency component, which rises in 2 studies, does not change in 3 and falls in 1 depending on the breathing rate: that is a problem of the measure rather than of the phenomenon, as the methodological review below explains.
How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing · Andrea Zaccaro, Andrea Piarulli, Marco Laurino, Erika Garbella, Danilo Menicucci, Bruno Neri, Angelo Gemignani
Status history
- 2014 Transferred The review that explains the mechanism places the peak of the heartbeat's oscillations at around 0.1 Hz, that is six breaths a minute, refined to about 5.5 with equal inhalation and exhalation, and adds that at that rate heartbeat and breath come into phase. These are adults in laboratory studies, not archers: the status is transferred by definition.
- 2018 Transferred A systematic review of 15 studies in healthy adults confirms that breathing below ten breaths a minute increases heart rate variability and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. The status stays transferred: the base is sound, but on people who shoot a bow no measurement yet exists.
Related
Related articles
- Thoracic mobility, diaphragmatic breathing and HRVThoracic mobility, diaphragmatic breathing and HRV for archers: the exercises, an eight-week protocol and what the studies on archers show.
- EEG and neuroscience in archery: the brain of the elite archerWhat EEG studies on archers show about the best arrows, differences between levels, theta in beginners and neurofeedback, and how far each finding holds.
- How to breathe before you draw: what the studies have measuredHow much and how fast to breathe before the shot: measurements on the range, where the six-breaths figure comes from, and what changes for anxiety and score.
Research lines
Where there are no studies on archers, every decision starts from a written hypothesis and is checked against the data over time.
See the full assessmentCite
Campagna, M. (2026). Breathing at around six breaths a minute brings heart rate variability to its maximum (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/six-breaths-a-minute
@misc{campagna2026_respirazioneseiattihrv,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Breathing at around six breaths a minute brings heart rate variability to its maximum},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/six-breaths-a-minute},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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