CNS recovery.

[TrapsMcLats]

I've been hearing the CNS (which i'm assuming is a reference to the central nervous system) aspect of recovery a lot lately (seems to be the new "it" thing when referencing training), but there also seems to be some validity to it.  Can someone here please explain to me how it is relevant to training/strength/growth?  It would be most appreciated.

[TrapsMcLats]

cmon, jpm? coach?

[Overload]

It's been around in the weight lifting world for a long time.

Basically, if you train too hard or with too much frequency you can wear down your CNS to were your body has a hard time recovering from workouts.  This is what "over training" really means.

Not sure how much truth there is behind it, but i do believe that you need to rest and have weeks where you do light weights to let your body recover from all the heavy weights.  In the past when i have trained really heavy for weeks on end i ended up getting very tired and my strength started to decrease.

This is why most olympic lifters and power lifters cycle their weights and rep patterns.

[Montague]

I've been hearing the CNS (which i'm assuming is a reference to the central nervous system) aspect of recovery a lot lately (seems to be the new "it" thing when referencing training), but there also seems to be some validity to it.  Can someone here please explain to me how it is relevant to training/strength/growth?  It would be most appreciated.

This probably belongs on the Nutrition board, but it goes with your question: vitamin-B6 is very important for the nervous system.

Jesse Ventura’s daughter suffered from a rare form of epilepsy that manifested in seizures.
In fact, she’d been suffering the seizures prenatal.
Doctors finally determined that the seizures were a result of her body’s inability to metabolize B6, so they put her on mega-doses of it.
Lo and behold…the seizures stopped.

[Metabolic]

CNS recovery refers to the amount of stress or fatigue your CNS can take and recover from heavy lifting.  It is indeed an obscure matter best treated by autoregulation. Example, as a natural lifter experience says you wont be able to get away with maximum effort days everyday of every week, your CNS will need to rest of the stress and fatigue.  Its more of a psychological draining aspect than a mere physical pain or whatever.

[WOOO]

CNS stimulants like modafinil (Provigil/Alertec) are available from your doctor is you are otherwise healthy and either have a serious medical issue like sleep apnea or just do stuff like shift work...

While drugs likely won't assist with recovery they can help prevent exhaustion and this is exponentially the case with CNS stimulants (as the adrenals are not involved)... there are also few side effects and you cannot build up a resistance

[tbombz]

workouts should either be just one or two sets to failure, or higher volume but always at least a few reps shy of failure. both of the methods prevent overtraining. find which works best for you.   everyonce in a while you can throw in a day where you trash the fuck out of the muscle and see it that helps. doesnt help me though.

[Overload]

CNS stimulants like modafinil (Provigil/Alertec) are available from your doctor is you are otherwise healthy and either have a serious medical issue like sleep apnea or just do stuff like shift work...

While drugs likely won't assist with recovery they can help prevent exhaustion and this is exponentially the case with CNS stimulants (as the adrenals are not involved)... there are also few side effects and you cannot build up a resistance

Provigil is an amazing product.

It's one of the only stimulants i would ever recommend.

[jpm101]

Agree with TbombZ 100%. All are related to the CNS, and the degree of recovery it is allowed to manage between training sessions.

Recovery abilities of the human body has been around since the dawn of time. All related to the basic core of survival and how humans adapt to stress, either physical, emotional or mental. All related to the peripheral nervous system, controlling most of the functions of the body. If the CNS is overtaxed, without proper rest or healing, any expected gains from workouts will be extra slow and zero. Which, in some cases, a person may be losing muscle mass & strength from workouts.  Good Luck.

[WOOO]

workouts should either be just one or two sets to failure, or higher volume but always at least a few reps shy of failure. both of the methods prevent overtraining. find which works best for you.   everyonce in a while you can throw in a day where you trash the fuck out of the muscle and see it that helps. doesnt help me though.