👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #168 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.

A couple quick notes:

1. Last week, the email deliverability gods decided to have the newsletter bounce from 16% of readers' inboxes 🤷. If you missed it, you can read it here.

2. I normally don’t write big, in-depth articles. But the idea in today's newsletter requires it. So just one thing this week, in a bitta depth.

😌 Composure Training: how to build stress resilience (the skill we need now more than ever)

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We’re living in the most overstimulated era in human history.

Every notification, deadline, interruption, and tiny conflict hits the nervous system like a threat. Resulting in a constant hum of activation.

Most of us wake up activated.

Work activated.

Parent activated.

Sleep activated.

And no matter how much we “know better,” we still feel:

• reactive
• overwhelmed by small things
• emotionally up and down
• drained by the pace of life
• thrown off by the slightest friction

People think the problem is stress.

It’s not.

The problem is untrained stress.

The flaw in modern wellness

For decades, wellness has pushed one message:

“Reduce stress. Avoid stress. Escape stress.”

But here’s the paradox:

The less stress we face, the more stressed we become.

Avoidance breeds fragility.

Comfort shrinks capacity.

Escapism masquerades as self-care.

Meanwhile, the world is only getting louder.

Trying to avoid stress is like trying to empty the ocean with a cup.

There’s a better answer.

One almost no one in wellness is talking about...

Stress isn’t the threat. Untrained stress is.

Your nervous system doesn’t know the difference between:

• a tiger chasing you
• a presentation
• a tough conversation
• a rude email
• the news
• your toddler melting down

It only registers activation.

And your real superpower isn’t avoiding activation. It’s staying yourself when activation hits.

That’s composure.

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The skill we need to learn...

Composure: staying yourself under stress.

When pressure rises, you don’t disappear.

Your values don’t evaporate.

Your emotional centre doesn’t get hijacked.

You maintain access to your best thinking, your best decisions, your best self.

The world throws stress at you.

You don’t shrink or spiral.

You stay you.

In our overstimulated world, that’s the skill we ought to learn.

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Introducing: Composure Training

Composure Training is simple:

Controlled adversity → Emotional edge → Real-world advantage

Instead of avoiding stress, we deliberately practice it.

Not life-threatening stress.

Not trauma.

Just safe, voluntary, controlled adversity:

• cold
• heat
• intense effort
• breath holds
• physical challenge
• deliberate discomfort

In these environments, your nervous system learns a new pattern:

“I can feel a lot… and still stay in control.”

These are stress exposure reps.

Just like strength training builds muscle, stress exposure builds emotional capacity.

We are training our nervous systems to feel safe when sh*t hits the fan.

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Why composure matters in the real world

After enough stress exposure reps, something changes:

Your emotional state stops being held hostage by daily friction.

Things that used to wobble you… don’t.

Your mood steadies.

Your reactions soften.

Your thinking sharpens.

And then something else emerges:

You become the calmest presence in the room.

The person others orient around in chaos.

The one who responds instead of reacts.

The anchor.

This isn’t therapy or “stress management.”

But it is a competitive advantage.

The kind that shows up in how you lead, talk, parent, perform, and make decisions.

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The Composure Training starter protocol

This is a simple, grounded way to begin training our emotional edge.

Most of us don’t need a meditation retreat or an hour-long routine.

We need something we can actually do — today — in under 10 minutes.

This starter protocol focuses on the three most accessible, high-impact stress training arenas: cold, breath, and effort.

Each one trains a different part of your stress response.

1. Cold Exposure (2 minutes)

Why it works:

Cold triggers an instant spike in your stress response... heart rate rises, breathing speeds up, the body sends “danger” signals.

But it’s a controlled environment.

If you can stay composed in cold, you teach your nervous system:

“Stress response doesn’t mean panic.”

Cold builds:

• breath control
• non-reactivity
• acceptance under discomfort
• emotional steadiness

"Cold is a stressor, so if you are able to get into the cold and control your body's response to it, you will be able to control stress." — Wim Hof

How to do it:

At the end of your shower, turn the water cold and stay for 2 minutes.

Slow your breathing.

Relax your shoulders.

Stay with the sensation.

2. Box Breathing (5 minutes)

Why it works:

Most stress comes from “inside-out” activation... rising carbon dioxide levels in the blood (CO₂), racing thoughts, tightening chest.

Box breathing slows the system, increases CO₂ tolerance, and teaches you to downshift on demand.

How to do it:

Breathe in for 4 seconds → hold 4 → exhale 4 → hold 4.

Repeat for 5 minutes.

If 4-second sides are too easy/hard, lengthen/shorten them based on your CO₂ tolerance (see test below).

3. HIIT Session (1x weekly, 10–30 mins)

Why it works:

A rising heart rate feels like stress because, well, it is.

Effort creates an internal storm. And teaches you to stay composed while intensity builds.

This trains composure under physical load.

How to do it:

Once a week, do a 10–30 minute HIIT, interval, or threshold session.

Intensity matters more than structure.

The only rule is it must be hard. It must test the spirit.

4. Awareness Rep (Daily)

Once a day, reflect on a moment where you were activated.

To start, do this before bed. It brings this awareness top of mind.

Until eventually, you can do it in the moment.

Pause.

Breathe.

Long exhale.

Soft shoulders.

Return to yourself.

This is how composure training translates into real life.

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How to track your progress

This is a simple stress-fitness framework.

These are the simplest ways to measure progress (with or without a wearable).‍

1. CO₂ Tolerance Test (baseline + weekly)

Why it matters:

Your urge to breathe is triggered by CO₂, not oxygen.

The more CO₂ you can tolerate, the more calmly you handle rising internal stress.

This makes CO₂ tolerance one of the clearest indicators of emotional edge.

How to test:

1. Take 4 slow nasal breaths in and out.
2. Take one final inhale (comfortably full).
3. Start a timer and slowly exhale through your mouth as long as you can.

Scoring:

• < 20 seconds: low tolerance
• 20–40 seconds: functional
• 40–60 seconds: strong
• 60+ seconds: exceptional

This score determines your box breathing cadence:

• <20s → 2–3 second box
• 20–40s → 4–5 second box
• 40–60s → 6–7 second box
• 60s+ → 8–12 second box

2. Subjective Composure Rating (daily, 0-10)

Simply ask:

“How steady did I feel inside stress today?”

0 = rattled

10 = steady

Tracking this over time is one of the most reliable signs you’re building emotional edge.

3. Wearable-supported indicators (optional)

If you have a device like Oura, Whoop, or Garmin, these vital signs are the best indicators of your stress adaptation or overload.

Note: Track the trends, not the numbers.

Respiratory Rate (RR)‍ — breaths per minute.

Short-term trends:

• Lower → adapting
• Higher → overloaded

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) — time variation between heartbeats.

Short-term trends:

• Lower → adapting
• Higher → overloaded

Resting Heart Rate (RHR) — beats per minute at rest.

Short-term trends:

• Higher → overloaded
• Lower → adapting

These metrics confirm the changes you're already feeling.

4. How to use these trends

Note: Don't take too much notice of daily trends, look at them weekly.

If CO₂ tolerance, HRV, or composure rating drops; or RR/HR rises:

• lessen training load
• shorten breath holds
• shorten cold exposure
• increase recovery
• prioritise sleep
• return to basics

If your CO₂ tolerance, HRV, or composure rating rises; or RR/RHR lowers:

• lengthen box breathing sides
• gradually extend cold exposure
• gradually increase weekly training load (intensity and/or volume)

Tracking isn’t about perfection. It’s about knowing when to push and when to restore.

The Composure Training tracker

If you want a clean one-page sheet to track all of this:

👉 Download Composure Training Tracker (PDF)

Use it to build awareness, consistency, and clarity over the month.

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In a nutshell

Here’s the simplest way to say it:

Composure is staying yourself under stress. And in an overstimulated world, that emotional edge is the greatest competitive advantage you can build.

Because the world isn’t slowing down.

But you can become the person who stays steady inside it.

That’s composure training.

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If curious, here's how we can work together:

• 💪 Adaptive Vitality Program: This is my 1-1 online coaching program. If you want to work closely with me, watch the video and follow the instructions
• 🗓️ Lean & Lively 21 Day Sprint: A lite version of Adaptive Vitality designed to give you the momentum to get back on track in just a few focused weeks
• 📞 1-1 consult (60 mins): A one-off deep dive with me. Ask anything. We’ll unpack your situation and walk away knowing exactly what you need to do next

That's it!

Have a great weekend 🤙

Matt

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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service nor a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information shared in this email is general and written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.