When to Finish Training

Usually by around 3 cycles through the blocks of training, you should be beginning to notice that changes are becoming more stable–not fading after a session. At that point I usually start stretching out the sessions. If you’ve been doing them 4 times a week, try dropping to 2; if 2 times a week, drop to 1. The idea is to verify that you are not regressing between sessions as you increase the period between them. If that turns out to be true, then decrease session frequency again. Eventually I like to see that even with 2 weeks between sessions, the benefits of training are holding–that indicates that a new homeostasis has been formed.

If you live an active life, you may need to join a gym or do some exercise to get yourself in shape, but you shouldn’t need to keep working out constantly. Using your body in daily life will keep you in shape. Most of the people I’ve trained have made a stable change in their brain function and been able to stop training. Unless you bang your head against a wall, or start using substances regularly, or move to Bali and lie under a palm tree and stare at clouds all day long, chances are your brain will stay strong and continue to develop without ongoing training.

Some clients prefer one or a few protocols and will choose to do a kind of Level 2 training–maybe 5-10 sessions of alpha theta 1-2 times a week, or sessions of SMR or working with the Default-Mode Network or Alpha/Gamma Synchrony. Those are enjoyable and open us up to ourselves in positive ways. As you get older, you may find that you need to do some Alpha Peak Up training or some HEG (at least I do) maybe twice a year for 8-12 sessions, just to hone the sharpness of the blade.

Unless you believe that there is a normal brain or a perfect brain that you seek to achieve, doing more assessments and constant training is a bit obsessive. I would take at least 6 months off after I finish training to let the brain stabilize in its new place. Most of the people with whom we did 1-year follow-ups in Atlanta reported that they had experienced greater changes in the 6 months AFTER they finished training even than they had during the active training period. Your brain is to be used, like the rest of your body. Yes, you can decide to become an Arnold Schwarzenegger and make your body your life, but I’m guessing you’ll end up finding lots of better things to do.