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Generelt => Saker fra media => Emne startet av: AlexanderDGL på 19. juni 2008, 18:02



Tittel: Give your CNS a call
Skrevet av: AlexanderDGL19. juni 2008, 18:02
Denne var litt artig.

http://www.t-nation.com/article/most_recent/3_tape_measures_of_progress (http://www.t-nation.com/article/most_recent/3_tape_measures_of_progress)

Jeg klarte 60 prikker på 10 sekund.

Step #3: Give Your CNS a Call

Have you checked in with your central nervous system (CNS) lately? Years ago, the late Stefan Fernholm showed me this interesting test where you'd take a pencil every morning and put as many dots on a page as you can in ten seconds. Let's say you knock out 40 to 45 every day for two weeks. Then, one morning, you struggle to hit 30. Now, making dots on a paper is pretty simple, but you're down 25%. Stefan noted to me, "This is bad."
broken pencil

Later, my friend Mike Rosenberg made a little computer program for me where he used the space bar as the pencil and added a built-in timer. For two years, I started my day with a ten-second test. And, after charting all of this, it was true: When my numbers dropped, I ended up getting sick and hurt.

Clearly, the reduced performance on my little finger tap test was indicative of CNS fatigue.

After that, when I saw my numbers drop, I eased my training, increased my protein, and took care of the little things like sleep, hot tubs, and resting. It was a miracle.

Not long ago, I bought the Younger Next Year journal (I take my own advice, at times) and began noting my morning heart rate. It isn't as fun as the "tap test," but I noted some interesting things. First, my typical morning heart rate is 54. When I give blood, it "shoots up" to 68. I'm 50 and change and haven't done cardio since Jimmy Carter was president, so I have to be careful when I read those charts on the machines in most gyms. I might be okay to ramp this ancient heart up over 120.

Second, I'm not sure what my small, daily fluctuations in heart rate tell me. While at the Olympic training center, I was told that a 10% rise in morning heart rate indicates overtraining. Usually, 10% higher than normal means I have gas. It's a good thing to do, but please let me be clear about that, I'm not sure yet what that heart rate bump might mean.

Most of us miss the importance of the entire body's relationship to fatigue. I call all of this "CNS fatigue," but that's about as correct as listening to my morning gas. Yet, when I discuss it in groups, many people seem to know what I mean.

"Out of nowhere, my typing (or texting) skills just fall apart."

Not surprising because our fingers are filled with nervous connections. Some of our most complex movements are the simple ones we take for granted, like typing or picking our nose.

"I get edgy, bitchy, fill-in-the-blank when I start to overtrain."

Yep. We all do. You can only ask the body to do so much before it starts banging its way into your emotional and social life. Trust me, don't be the jerk at the party.

"I just can't go heavy."

You can always get medium sets of medium reps with medium weights. It's like what Socrates tells Dan Millman; basically, this is like lukewarm tea, "the Devil's brew!" Medium is the death song for training. You can train medium (also known as "crappy") for years and years while making no progress. Let's be honest, go find average in everything. Buy the damn pale green, four-door Ford Escort of your dreams and go wave at hot babes. Get all C's and then ask your counselor, "What's my skill set?"


In other words, training a lot at lousy is still lousy. If you "can't go heavy," back off until you can!

I'm out of my league on this CNS stuff, but most people who've been in the game long enough understand the point. Don't keep training when taking a workout off might be better in the long run. If you've been through disastrous training weeks because you insisted on going and going 'til you're gone, you'll see the wisdom in this approach.