Don't Forget the CNS

Courtesy of Bryan Christie Design

Pushing yourself in the gym or during your activity of choice is how we improve. However, there is a potential downside lurking just below the surface if one is not careful. This downside is more than just sore muscles that require a little rest. What I’m referring to is the central nervous system.

Our movements are all controlled by the Central Nervous System
  Courtesy of Bryan Christie Design

The central nervous system (CNS) is the control center for all that we do. The electrical impulses that travel through this system cause all of our muscular movements. If we work our bodies long enough and hard enough we can eventually reach a state of CNS fatigue. This means the power source that moves our body is over burdened. 

I was actually asked one time by a young man why he could bench press 320lbs but now, a month later, can barely get 300lbs. After a little Q & A it turns out he was using a body part split that had him lifting 6 days a week. When I asked him about de-loading he looked at me like I was speaking another language. This guy was in full CNS meltdown. His system just didn’t have the juice to keep him working at the extremely high intensity he always trained with. Think about it, 6 days a week going to failure on every exercise. That’s very taxing on the nervous system not to mention the rest of the body.

This is why I tend to prescribe a 3 – 4 day a week split for most people because it allows plenty of time off generally spliced between workout days. I also like to use a concurrent type training model, which trains multiple areas of performance at the same time. This introduces multiple loading parameters in a month, which can reduce CNS overloading; it also produces well-rounded athleticism, which most people desire anyway.

Some other factors to consider outside of your training split.

Sleep: 

if you neglect a good nights sleep you are cutting your recovery short, 7 – 9 hours is the recommended dosage for most people. Undercutting this amount on a regular basis will add up over time hindering your physical performance and potential for improvement.

 Food:

Which of these two meals do you think will get your further?

 making poor food choices will definitely affect you as well. Getting the right fuel into your body is essential for optimum performance. You body has nutritional needs and fast food is just not delivering the necessary ingredients, though it is delivering a host of other less than desirable ones.

 Stress:

 all stress is not the same, but it can have a similar effect on the body. If we are overloaded by stress at home, at work, on the freeway, at the gym, etc. we can easily burn out. Adding stimulants to the mix because we aren’t getting enough sleep just makes it worse; coffee to get going in the morning after 5 hours of sleep, an “energy” drink mid afternoon to ward off the post fast food lunch lull, and a cocktail at the end of the day to wind down because we have artificially cranked our system up and now are unable to relax. I assume you can see how this cycle would cost you over time. 

In the end, eat well most of the time, get a good nights sleep as often as you can, try to relax, stop worrying about things you can’t control, and finally train smart. Paradoxically by training smarter and sometimes working out less we can actually gain more. Recovery is as much of the puzzle as training is.

-KO