Your CNS isn't fried, stop making excuses!

I think one of the more cringe worthy things I have noticed is that when someone tries to steal the squat rack only to do bicep curls. ARE YOU SERIOUS! Taking up a fine piece of equipment to engorge your biceps to only satisfy your peers for a short window of time? The pump doesn't last forever! But besides this crisis, the next thing that is frustrating to listen to is the loosely defined concept of having a fatigued CNS....central nervous system. Here is the deal, there are many scientific facts that support this concept, but also support a shorter duration of recovery desired to be able to commence with maximized strength and ability. The central nervous system is the heart of movement. You of course need to have a compatible system of levers and muscles to execute movement, but if the CNS is impeded due to fatigue or disease (example-multiple sclerosis), movement might not work in your favor, or it might not work at all!

The biggest issue with exercise, especially when it comes to strength, is having the ability to execute heavy movement for a desired outcome. Perhaps you want to have a massive press, a vicious deadlift, or want to be able to push a car up the hill so that you can get more gas to finally arrive at your girlfriend's house. So, when we train for strength, sometimes we will experience various levels of fatigue that can reduce our ability to give max effort. The first thing I usually discuss is "well, are you sore"? I have had many instances when people will do high rep movement and then discuss afterwards "man, my CNS is fried, I don't think I can do my third workout for this week". I mean, yes you could be zapped due to volume and muscular fatigue, but in addition, you could also be fatigued due to a lack of rest and ability to partake in a nutritious diet.

Many of us try to tackle the day with a tremendous deficit in rest. It's Thursday night, drinks are half off, and boneless wings are 50 cents. Why not indulge and treat yourself? Oh, is that a gorgeous gal I see in the corner, her eyes surveying the room for a nice man to quart her to a fancy dinner this upcoming Saturday night? You guys' chat, close the bar and you remember "crap, I have a meeting at 8am!"

Yep, that was me. You just have this instant fear of missing out (FOMO) and you want to make sure that you are a part of all the excitement that life brings. But then once you are married, have kids and realize at 2am that your daughter wet the bed and you don't have any extra sheets, you got to get creative and offer her a subpart sheet with a towel underneath to soak up all the urination that seemed to seep through the sheets and covers. Then all a sudden, it's 330am and you still have that meeting in the morning at 8am.

Basically, adulting is hard, and we lack the rest we need. THIS is one of the main culprits to CNS fatigue, as well as your nutrition and dietary habits. I have grown to being one of the biggest coffee snobs in the southwestern region of America. I love it, and I think with time, this love for coffee has also had an effect on my neuromuscular drive to engage in some strong movements. If I sip coffee in the morning, I hit a crash HARD by 2pm. So, I must strategically drink certain fluids, and time them correctly so I can make sure I am fully aware and alert to participate in a training regimen, especially at the end of a peak and the training block is above 90%

But in addition to the fatigue and the lifestyle habits you have acquired, understand that you have to account for the load that is on the bar that could affect the way you strategize to train. So, for example, scientific research says that if you hit between 65-80% of your 1RM, your CNS can recover within 48 hours. That's why it's smart to try and plan for some days to be "heavy" and some days to be "fast". There are some exceptions to this, as my clients would mention that they seem to almost never get a break, but right now we are talking about most of the population so let's keep rolling with it. If you do train above the 90% threshold, it is documented that you could even need up to 10 days to recover! Thats when the strategy of programming must be designed appropriately. Perhaps one week you do a heavy squat, the next week a speed squat....rotating intensities and making sure you don't overload your body and nervous system. This is something I learned from a training partner a long time ago. I was concerned to train like this, as this meant I only trained heavy on squat two times A MONTH. But once I adopted this, trained this way, and abided to these rules, my squat was growing faster than ever. I felt refreshed and excited too, because only having two chances a month to train a heavy squat meant each session mattered.

So ultimately, is your CNS truly fatigued...or are you making an excuse? Make sure to understand the ideas of intensity, rest, nutrition, and programming as it has a huge impact on your performance. Once that happens, you can train smarter and wiser to make the barbell heavier than ever!