Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Muscle vs. Nervous System
💪🏼 Muscle Stress:
Excitation contraction coupling failure is local stress (within the muscle itself)
This is specific to the muscles you train and can last ~2-5 days.
🧠 Nervous System:
Changes in firing rate, recruitment thresholds, and double discharge behavior.
These are global or system wide and can be reduced temporarily from hard training but tend to rebound a bit faster (~24-48 hours) relative to localized muscle stress.
The state of the nervous system largely governs max speed, so consider using techniques to ramp up the nervous system like a solid warm-up and priming with overcoming ISOS or heavy resistance work with explosive intent.
And importantly, consistent hard training improves the efficiency of the nervous system over time, which is measurable with changes in firing rate, recruitment thresholds, etc.
🔑 Train not just based on muscles, but based on the nervous system.
A high/ low approach is a great split for athletes looking to maximize outputs like sprint speed, jump height, throw distance, etc.
Muscle vs. Nervous System
💪🏼 Muscle Stress:
Excitation contraction coupling failure is local stress (within the muscle itself)
This is specific to the muscles you train and can last ~2-5 days.
🧠 Nervous System:
Changes in firing rate, recruitment thresholds, and double discharge behavior.
These are global or system wide and can be reduced temporarily from hard training but tend to rebound a bit faster (~24-48 hours) relative to localized muscle stress.
The state of the nervous system largely governs max speed, so consider using techniques to ramp up the nervous system like a solid warm-up and priming with overcoming ISOS or heavy resistance work with explosive intent.
And importantly, consistent hard training improves the efficiency of the nervous system over time, which is measurable with changes in firing rate, recruitment thresholds, etc.
🔑 Train not just based on muscles, but based on the nervous system.
A high/ low approach is a great split for athletes looking to maximize outputs like sprint speed, jump height, throw distance, etc.
