You may have heard someone say that exercise can be “taxing”, or strenuous on your nervous system. So, what does that mean and how does it happen?
Well, first you need to know that when people say, “nervous system” they mean your “CNS”, or central nervous system.
The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is responsible for the control of thought processes, movement, and provides sensation throughout the body. Knowing this simple part can shine a lot of light into what is meant by exercising taxing the CNS.
As you can see, the CNS is pretty much the hub or control center for 3 vital attributes to exercise. Thinking about what you are going to lift or train, training it, then the sensation that comes from it (good or bad). Certain movements like squats and deadlifts are seen as extremely taxing on the nervous system because of everything involved in the movement alone, so the CNS has to kick into overdrive, then throw in the thinking process and sensation that comes from the movements (usually pukey and sore), one should see how the CNS can get taxed.
In time however, the nervous system can get over taxed, which is another way of saying overtraining has set in. Over training is when the body pretty much stops responding to any form of training due to fatigue and soreness. Another aspect of overtraining that also involves the CNS is the mental aspect. The lack of drive or ambition to workout. The brain is just simply tired and does not want to engage in anything extra. If there is no ambition or drive to lift, many times the mind and muscle connection is lost because the two just don’t care to speak to each other. This affects targeting the muscles properly and even strength.
Other things that can be taxing and stress your CNS are stimulants. If you find yourself in a situation where you are already dealing with overtraining or an over taxed nervous system, stay away from stimulants because these causes your CNS to work harder than it usually does. Being tired and needing a pick me up is different than an overworked CNS. A taxed out nervous system is more long term than just having a day where you feel tired and groggy.
Always be safe and train in moderation. Give yourself breaks throughout the week, especially if you start feeling like your energy is dropping more and more with each training session.
You need your nervous system to be ready to go for you to be ready to go!
