Chris Beardsley
1 min readDec 2, 2018

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In research, fatigue is separated out into factors that are located in the CNS (central fatigue) and factors located inside the muscle (peripheral fatigue and muscle damage). Peripheral fatigue and central fatigue are both quite short-lived (in the absence of muscle damage). Muscle damage is the factor that can last for a long time. However, when muscle damage is severe, it leads to central fatigue as a side-effect, which can be a bit confusing.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgV9i-KnEHU/?taken-by=chrisabeardsley

The idea that central fatigue is caused by high levels of motor unit recruitment regardless of muscle damage is almost certainly incorrect, because (1) low volume heavy load workouts and (2) low volume power workouts both cause no long-lasting central fatigue, despite maximal motor unit recruitment.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc18Qdund2i/?taken-by=chrisabeardsley

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgiXgRLH83x/?taken-by=chrisabeardsley

So in practice, the recovery time of CNS fatigue is dependent upon the amount of muscle damage that is incurred, and that is quite individual.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhYZfV7nrjE/?taken-by=chrisabeardsley

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Chris Beardsley
Chris Beardsley

Written by Chris Beardsley

Figuring out how strength training works. See more of what I do: https://www.patreon.com/join/SandCResearch

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