This is how top rower Joel stimulates the mystical vagus nerve – Aiming for a gold medal at the Olympics – 2024-02-22 10:54:53

After three and a half hours of very hard training, a doctor, a professional rower Joel Naukkarinen attaches a clip to his left ear through which a pulsating electric current is supposed to stimulate his vagus nerve.

By stimulating the vagus nerve, Naukkarinen hopes to be able to speed up the state of recovery that is needed to reach the ambitious goal.

He wants to win a gold medal in the next Olympics.

– I am interested in researching and developing permitted methods that can affect performance and recovery, Naukkarinen says with a clip in his ear.

When giving the interview, Naukkarinen is in Italy. The interview is done by phone.

The device that gently squeezes the bundle of cartilage in the front of the ear causes a slight tingling sensation. It doesn’t hurt when Naukkarinen tells why he believes vagus nerve stimulation will help him achieve his goals in sports.

For Joel Naukkarinen, recovery is an extremely important part of training. JOEL NAUKKARISEN’S ALBUM

Researched effect

Until a few years ago, the vagus nerve was a somewhat mystical element of the body in the general perception.

There has now been researched evidence that stimulation of the vagus nerve can be expected to help, among other things, in the treatment of depression, obesity and alcoholism.

Naukkarinen describes the vagus nerve as an electrical highway through which things like breathing, heartbeat, digestion and the immune system are controlled.

The vagus nerve plays a wide-ranging role in almost all vital functions.

The detective can find countless tips on the internet about how easily the vagus nerve can be affected. You can smile in a low voice, you can do yoga or meditate. Following the evening routine is calming.

Along with these methods, vagus nerve stimulating devices that can be used at home on your own have entered the market. There is already a very large selection of them available in online stores.

Naukkarinen uses a device costing 700 euros in recovery, along with other means, whose amount and frequency of electric current can be adjusted within the permitted limits.

“Does not matter”

The clip of the device used by Naukkarinen is attached to the ear, because there is a specific branch of the vagus nerve in the area of ​​the outer ear.

It is not yet known exactly what this stimulation done through the ear actually does and by what mechanism. According to Naukkarinen, the use of the device has been found to be safe.

– No harm other than local skin irritation has been found.

Naukkarinen uses the device that stimulates the vagus nerve usually twice a day, after training.

After the morning workout, the device promotes recovery. The purpose of stimulating the vagus nerve after the evening workout is to calm down and break the stress state caused by the workout to return to normal before sleeping.

Naukkarinen does not believe and has not experienced that using the device would harm him.

– I feel that the bigger risk would be if I couldn’t start the recovery after a very hard training. I have noticed the greatest effect on recovery in connection with a severe stress state, when the training is extreme and I live in low-oxygen conditions.

Why does a person get tired?

In his doctoral research under work, Naukkarinen wants to find out why people get tired and what happens in the brain.

– My hypothesis is that due to the functioning of the regulatory systems, the recovery does not start, so the stress state and cycles can stay on and prevent the recovery and healing process.

Naukkarinen states that coping and recovery has become an ever-growing problem for all people. There are long sick leaves due to exhaustion, and there is depression.

A depressed person may be so tired that they cannot answer the phone when a friend calls. A depressed person can find life so burdensome that they can’t handle even the smallest everyday chore.

– Burnout and depression are good examples of how, when the stress state is prolonged, even a long sick leave may not give you time to recover.

If work and everyday life are stressful, the brain does not necessarily recognize when it is free, but the hectic pace and stress mode remain on even during free time.

– If everyday life is all about performance, you need mental skills to recover. You can’t press the gas indefinitely. It would be good for everyone to try to find out which things burden them the most. That way you can learn to regulate stress and recover.

Competition in intelligence

In Naukkarinen’s life, everything serves his sports career and reaching his goal. He is still not exhausted at all, but enthusiastic and energetic.

– I can enjoy this phase of life very much, he says.

Naukkarinen pushes the gas to the bottom when training and causes his body to be in a state from which it is not easy to recover. However, he believes that by optimizing recovery with, for example, stimulation of the vagus nerve, he can reach the top as an athlete.

– In my opinion, top sport is also a competition of intelligence these days. The one who can figure out how to do small things even better or invent something new before others, wins.

Throughout the interview, Naukkarinen has left the clip of the device that stimulates the vagus nerve in place.

– My mind at the time of the interview was quite serene and calm, he admits.

In the evening, there is another training session. After the naps and recovery, he estimates that he is ready for it both mentally and physically.