As we finish maxing out the rest of our primary lifts this week, we look ahead to the upcoming four weeks of programming leading up to the Open. We tend to look at programming as having different “volume” controls on the variables we utilize, primarily:
Intensity
Volume
Density
Power
Strength & Hypertrophy
Skill & Technical Acquisition & Refinement
Work capacity
If you don’t care about math & physics, skip this part and go to The Open section.
Intensity | How heavy or how hard something is compared to a maximal effort. Commonly given as a percentage of 1-rep maximum (1RM) or maximal heart rate and/or ratings of perceived exertion (RPE).
Volume | Sets x reps
Density | Sets x reps/time | More work, less time, more fatigue
Power | Work/Time | Work = Force x displacement (how far something moves, usually noted in meters) | Force = Mass x acceleration. In reality this is mass (kg) x displacement (how far something moves) x acceleration divided by time. Yay math!
Strength & Hypertrophy | Stimuli for muscle growth that is characterized by maximal motor unit recruitment that occurs at or near mechanical “failure”, usually in conjunction with slow muscle fiber shortening velocity.
Work capacity | In physics, work = force x displacement of an object. In our setting, this is how much weight you move (external or bodyweight), how far it is moved, and how often you move it. For conditioning purposes, this is often related to time and density. Another term could be power endurance.
The Open
The primary outcome measure of The Open is to challenge an individual’s capacity to do work, specifically within a given time frame. Ultimately, we are trying to improve work capacity in relation to density. Athletes aim to perform more work in the most efficient time based on their present abilities.
In consideration to the seven adaptations noted, these are awesome to develop, but like anything, there are caveats to consider for sustained long-term development. Specifically, we are looking at the role of central nervous fatigue and considerations for how it impacts our development.
Researcher and strength coach Chris Beardsley has an awesome article reviewing central nervous fatigue, which I will summarize here and relate to its impact on our programming.
Central Nervous Fatigue
Central fatigue can occur due to reduced efferent signal size from the brain and/or spinal cord to the muscles (Brain—> Body), or because of afferent feedback that reduces motor unit excitability (Body —> Brain). Afferent feedback are the signals sent from the receptors in our skin, muscles, connective tissue, blood stream, etc. that inform our brain of what is happening in the body. The brain and/or spinal cord formulates a response based on what feedback it receives.
As central fatigue accrues, this reduces the number of motor units recruited. Muscles are recruited based on size, with the highest-threshold motor units being the ones we want to train for long-term strength adaptations. Central fatigue prevents these higher-threshold motor units from being activated, which blunts the hypertrophy stimulus we are aiming to create.
Beardsley discusses three mechanisms that impact central fatigue:
Shorter rest periods prevent full nervous system recovery, potentially impacting our ability to recruit motor units maximally.
Aerobic exercise seems to produce central nervous fatigue more readily than traditional strength training. This study by Thomas et al. (2015) comparing a 6-min cycling time trial vs a 30-minute time trial suggests this phenomenon. This is why Zone 2 training has become so popular, despite how boring and slow it is. It manages central nervous fatigue, although I debate the value this has for the fitness athlete in our setting.
According to Cairns (2006), blood lactate accumulation could play a role because it appears to lead to central nervous fatigue.
Fun fact: Lactate is a metabolic buffer, not the cause of that burning sensation you feel when you workout at high thresholds. It is actually a metabolic by-product of energy breakdown that helps to reduce the buildup of hydrogen ions during this process.
This is one of the reasons we tend to keep our conditioning relatively shorter and heavier. We can maximize the stimulus that encourages adaptation while manipulating volume to account for central nervous fatigue.
Managing Central Nervous Fatigue
Research has generally shown that power, strength & hypertrophy develop best when given 2-3 minutes of recovery between sets. Since power is more explosive, more recovery is generally better. This is one of the reasons we often utilize couplets in our strength formats. If you have to wait to maximize motor recruitment for a given exercise, you might as well work on something else while you’re waiting. In case you were wondering, circuit training like this has not been found to blunt output, despite the obvious increase in systemic demand.
Bringing this back to programming for The Open, if we turn the dials up on volume, density, and work capacity demands, we have to turn the dials down in other places to balance the stress on the body to manage fatigue. In this case, pure strength and hypertrophy output cede to volume, density and more work under fatigue.
This is one of the primary reasons we only perform cycles like this for a short duration in preparation for a specific event. If we spend too much time training at these thresholds, we impede long-term power, strength and hypertrophy adaptations. This will blunt your overall capacity for growth, whether your focus is health & wellness, competition, or both.
Additionally, technical proficiency and skill acquisition are best trained when relatively fresh, so excess fatigue does us no justice here either. Otherwise, we risk ingraining substandard movement patterns and end up using compensatory mechanisms for performance. You might gain in the short run, but following this route for too long will compromise long-term development.
These next seven weeks are meant to test the expression of all the work we have put in over the previous year of training. It’s an opportunity to find your thresholds and challenge them intelligently. That being said, make sure you understand where you are at in your development and what your aspirations are. The upcoming programming can be very fun and very different, but should be adjusted to what you need from it. If you’re not sure what makes the most sense for you, ask and we’ll happily chat.
We use events like this to give a loose guide to our programming, but most importantly, to have fun celebrating our fitness with our FitFam. Enjoy the ride!