Stress, Training, and The CNS

While stress certainly drains the CNS, so too does intense training. However, training is also noted for its ability to relieve stress.

So what is a stressed person to do? Where is the dividing line between too much stress and too much training? If training relieves stress, then one should train.

But if both of those present a drain on the CNS, couldn?t overtraining be a possibility? How is a stressed person to know how much training to do?

[quote]Dark_Knight wrote:
While stress certainly drains the CNS, so too does intense training. However, training is also noted for its ability to relieve stress.

So what is a stressed person to do? Where is the dividing line between too much stress and too much training? If training relieves stress, then one should train.

But if both of those present a drain on the CNS, couldn?t overtraining be a possibility? How is a stressed person to know how much training to do?
[/quote]

Don’t make it complicated.
Life sucks right now? Go to the gym and get pissed off, take it out on the weight, then go home eat and knock out, simple.

you’ll know when to take a step back when you start loosing it at random points through out the day (aka- crying over spilt milk). In my experinces, training only works as an outlet for so long, its when you lose interest in your interests that you need to evaluate what is going on.

[quote]Dark_Knight wrote:
While stress certainly drains the CNS, so too does intense training. However, training is also noted for its ability to relieve stress.

So what is a stressed person to do? Where is the dividing line between too much stress and too much training? If training relieves stress, then one should train.

But if both of those present a drain on the CNS, couldn?t overtraining be a possibility? How is a stressed person to know how much training to do?
[/quote]

#1 id say stop stressing about the w/o and stress. got to have some releases let training be that stressing on it itself wont help

Phill

Once someone has trained hard enough and long enough to actually experience it, they understand that overtraining is simply part of their own learning curve.

Until you’ve gotten there, you still have more to learn about your own body and, of course, you can push yourself further.

[quote]Dark_Knight wrote:
While stress certainly drains the CNS, so too does intense training. However, training is also noted for its ability to relieve stress.

So what is a stressed person to do? Where is the dividing line between too much stress and too much training? If training relieves stress, then one should train.

But if both of those present a drain on the CNS, couldn?t overtraining be a possibility? How is a stressed person to know how much training to do?
[/quote]

Do you find yourself stalling in your current goals, whether they be performance or physique related?

Are your workouts getting flatter and your motivation going down the drain?

As someone who is fairly stressed and works more than I care to think about, I noticed just feeling rundown too often and just not having my usual “zip” in the gym. I decided to go to 3X per week training and cutting back on total volume. For me, it’s worked pretty well for the last couple of months (thanks to Alwyn for the recommended workout on this).

For you, I think we need a little more info before making anything resembling a conclusive decision about your particular case.

I concur with some of the comments above: Go into the gym, give it your all, make sure your diet is on point and definitely be sure you get your sleep and work in complete days off. If you have done all of those things and you are still having some problems, then it’s time to re-assess.

Actually, what I really want to know is how do you tell if the CNS is fatigued? That is, how do you differentiate between a general fatigue and CNS fatigue?

I read somewhere that the best indicator of whether or not your system is taxed too much is your willingness to train. It basically said that if your CNS is drained, you will not want to train. Conversely, if you do want to train, then your CNS is good to go and any fatigue you might feel is nothing to be concerned about. Is this true?