30 Seconds Summary
Autoregulation and the Minimal Effective Dose

  • Autoregulation allows you to train effectively across multiple disciplines by identifying the minimum effective dose of each activity for improvement and recovery.
  • The Central Nervous System (CNS) acts as a governor, signaling through various 'elements of effort' when to stop exercise to avoid injury and maximize effectiveness.
  • Key elements of effort include Speed, Position, Tension, leading up to Failure, which indicate when exercise intensity should be decreased to avoid Pain, Damage, or Death.
  • Monitoring changes in flexibility through a simple toe touch test before and after exercise can help determine if your body is ready for more activity.
  • Adjustments in form, range of motion, and speed in your exercises can help you pass the CNS test, optimizing your training session.
  • Continuous self-monitoring and adjustments in your training program can enhance performance over time and help fine-tune your awareness and intuition.

Track & Plan Workouts
with Ease

  • Unlimited workout logs
  • Automatic volume tracking
  • Personalized programs
  • RPE support, rest timer, and more!
WorkoutWise Screenshot

Read Next

2 Autoregulation methods to improve your training progress

Autoregulation, periodization, deloading, recovery, fatigue... these concepts are thrown around a lot without specification of what they mean, often because the person using these terms only has a vague notion him- or herself and is mainly using the term to sound sophisticated. To cut through the co…

MennoHenselmans.com

Menno Henselmans

The Science of Autoregulation

What exactly is autoregulation? This article by Eric Helms cuts through the misconceptions and discusses implementation of autoregulation and RPE.

Stronger By Science

Eric Helms

Research Spotlight: Do people prefer being told what to do in the gym?

The study reviewed is “Exploring the Acute Affective Responses to Resistance Training: A Comparison of the Predetermined and the Estimated Repetitions to Failure Approaches” by Schwartz et al. (2021)

Stronger By Science

Greg Nuckols

Become a true master: Autoregulation

People have been using autoregulation for ages: In their training. Nutrition and recovery To strategically periodize the intensity & volume throughout a macrocycle to consciously overreach or allow for additional rest. Most of you are probably familiar with some form of autoregulation but as a physi…

Revive Stronger

Pascal Flor

Using Velocity to Autoregulate May Increase Strength Gains

Does autoregulating training using velocity targets and velocity stops ultimately lead to larger strength gains than percentage-based training?

Stronger By Science

Greg Nuckols