Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I’ve been getting a ton of emails from guys who are worried about taxing their CNS (Central Nervous System).
They all want to know how heavy to go, how often to go heavy, what lifts to train, when to max out, etc.
And they all mentioned that they had been reading stuff by some guy who warned about CNS fatigue – or worse, that they had been to some Internet discussion board and read a thread about CNS fatigue.
The acronym CNS kept popping up in so many emails that I decided to do some google searches on it.
“CNS and high intensity training” got 141,000 hits.
“CNS and maxing out” got 231,000 hits.
Then we started to get some really big numbers.
“CNS and heavy weights” had 504,000 hits.
“CNS and heavy singles” brought a whopping 757,000 hits.
But then I typed in “CNS and Dinosaur Training” – and that one broke the bank.
There were 1,430,000 hits for that one.
So I guess there’s quite a bit of stuff out there about CNS issues – and I guess it can probably get pretty confusing.
So let’s try to simplify things a little – and let’s use a little bit of good, old- fashioned common sense – and let’s talk about practical training issues for drug-free trainees who are trying to get bigger and stronger.
1. CNS fatigue is nothing more than a fancy term for being “over-trained.”
2. Avoiding the problem of over-training is something that lifters have struggled with for years. 100 years ago, the great Arthur Saxon wrote about the importance of avoiding “the bug-a-bear of overtraining.”
3. The original York Barbell Company training courses, which were written in the 1930’s, suggested a simple approach to avoiding overtraining. Bob Hoffman called it: “Irregular Training.” Later, Hoffman advocated “Light, Medium and Heavy Training,” which was really the same thing as Irregular Training.
4. Hoffman’s program of “Irregular Training” did not mean that you trained on some sort of irregular schedule. Instead, it meant that you varied the intensity of your effort from workout to workout over the course of the week. In simple terms, you trained with your top weights one day per week. This was your “Limit Day.”
5. Hoffman wrote: “Great demands must at times be made upon the body. This is done on the York heavy or ‘limit’ day. Moderate training must follow. This is why we advocate training every other day, with a rest day in between, and why the other training days are not as heavy as the ‘limit’ day.”
6. Hoffman also wrote, “Although you must constantly strive to handle more and more weight, you should not work on your nerve too often. Except on your limit day of training, you should train well within your capabilities, in other words, train, but do not strain.”
7. “There should always be some moderate days of training,” Hoffman continued. “Days on which the muscles are given a nice, comfortable, stimulating workout, a workout which tones the muscles, and prepares them for the harder training days to come.”
So here’s the bottom line. Train to your limit once per week – and go lighter on your other training days.
That’s pretty simple – but it’s also pretty effective.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day – and if you train today, make it a good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. For more information about productive and effective, common sense training programs for drug-free lifters, you're going to want to have a copy of my new book, Strength, Muscle and Power, on your bookshelf.
