Thoughts On Intensity

Photo Credit: estarezarpadoo

Intensity; what does it mean?  If you are like me, you have heard that pesky word over and again in the realm of bodybuilding, strength training and athletics.  All the bodybuilders keep talking about how much of it they have and all I can recall from high school is my coaches screaming in our ears about how much of it we lacked.

In the realm of fitness and training, you have different variations of said intensity: high intensity interval training, low intensity cardio and dynamic effort days where you train sub-maximally to allow for recovery etc.  Lately I have been eavesdropping on the bros’ conversations and I am noticing the word thrown around fairly often.  I keep asking myself, “just what is intensity, really?”

Intensity and Max Effort

Intensity is that instance where an athlete gives an all out effort.  Think of a tail back running as fast as he can to get the first down.  He knows exactly where he has to go and in order to get there he must run as fast as humanly possible.  He literally runs with all his might until he reaches his destination.  Regardless of whether he makes it or not, he still put forth a maximal effort (or close to it).  This is what max intensity is regarding athletics, bodybuilding or strength training.

Another example, more pertinent to my writing is to think about when a power lifter pushes for a new PR or a bodybuilder goes for that 20^th rep on the widow-maker squat.  They are pushing close to their limits in hopes of beating a previous personal best.  By increasing intensity, the hope is that they will improve their work capacity, produce new gains in muscle mass or to add a few kg’s to their deadlift.

In short, maximum intensity is briefly reaching the end of your rope (or damn close).  This can be literal or RPE (rate of perceived exertion) which is usually dependent on fatigue.

Intensity and Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is all about hypertrophy, period.  We don’t care about how much you bench press nor do we care about how much you can deadlift.  We just want big, round, full muscles to cover our bony frame from head to toe.  That’s it.  What role does intensity play in bodybuilding?  It’s probably the most important factor when one is aiming to spur overall muscle growth.  If you do not give your body a stimulus or a reason to grow, it’s not going to happen.

Regarding training intensity, the goal is to make slight increases over a long period of time. You have to crawl before you can walk; likewise small splashes create big ripples.  Building a massive body takes years, not weeks; therefore it’s important to have a plan for the long haul.  By steadily increasing intensity in some form or fashion, our bodies must adapt to the stimulus, thus incurring growth.

Examples of Moderate and Low Intensities

Jogging, biking, rowing etc. are all forms of moderately intense activities.  Certain aspects of soccer, basketball and baseball could be considered moderate intensity as there are periods where the movement is continuous and rapid but not very taxing.  Moderate intensity is a middle ground where you are breaking a sweat but able to go the distance.  Running a marathon is exercising at a moderate intensity, that is until you get near the end where your RPE is sky high.

Low intensity activities can be anything that involves some type of movement but causes no real strain on the body.  You can often do these activities for hours without batting an eye.  I could literally walk all day long and not get truly exhausted.  Sure, I may get a little tired later in the day or my feet may get sore but during the actual activity, fatigue is a non-issue.

Making it Work for Strength and Muscle Gains

Intensity can be measured via many different methods: time, distance, loads, RPE etc.  If you are a runner it equates to a faster time or longer duration.  If you’re strength training it equates to more weight lifted or more reps on a certain movement at a similar weight.  If you’re a bodybuilder it could be decreased rest periods or adding more weight to the bar.

To build our physique, increase our strength or improve our timed mile, we must strive to be better than we were yesterday and focus on continual improvement over an extended period.  The human body is very adaptable given the conditions it’s presented with.  Take identical twins; turn one into a cross country runner and the other into a competitive bodybuilder.  Snap a picture of them side by side after 5 years and I can guarantee you they will not show any resemblance, other than facial features.  One will likely be skinny and frail while the other is thick, bulky and considerably heavier than his/her counterpart.  While they are both completely different in aesthetics, the ideal we must observe is what happens when intensity is continually increased over time.

Let us take weight training for example.  If I am pressing 100kg’s for 3×10 with 3 minute rest periods for 4 weeks and then suddenly add 5kg’s you can bet that I will not likely get all 3 sets of 10 over the next few workouts.  However, depending on many variables (diet, rest, recovery and stress) it’s highly probable that I will soon be pressing 105kg’s for 3 sets of 10.  There is at least one physiological process at work here and two depending on a calorie surplus.  The CNS is adapting and changing, thus allowing me to move more weight over time.  I stress it pretty hard on Monday and when I come back to the bench press on Thursday, it’s expecting a similar load from the previous workout, therefore it adapts under the stress it’s subjected to.  Now if calories are sufficient, increasing the intensity like so will result in muscle hypertrophy.  If you don’t want this to happen (some athletes cannot afford to weigh more), just consume maintenance kcals.

Practical Application

So, it’s never good to have information without a clue how to put it all together.  Since this website is about training to look great naked, ideally using resistance training to accomplish our aesthetic goals, I am going to set the precedence on bodybuilding and strength training for my suggestions/examples.

In my mind, there are 3 explicit ways to increase intensity.  You can either add weight to the bar, do more reps or decrease time in between sets.  One reason I enjoy this sport (if you want to call it that) so much is because it allows me to remain competitive, although I am only competing with myself.  I am pushing to beat the logbook in some form or fashion every training session.

Some days I go in and feel really fresh, so I add 2-5kg’s to the bar.  Some days I am only able to squeeze out a few more reps than the last workout; either way I am improving each training session.  I always have a goal in mind before starting a training cycle.  That goal is either to increase size, strength or both.  Since I am a natural, those pretty much have to go hand-in-hand.

I must say that my favorite way to increase intensity is by decreasing rest times.  Lately I have been doing the powerlifting thing where my training sessions are taking about an hour and I just take as much time in between sets to recover and push the most weight.  However I hate spending more than 50 minutes at any given time in the gym so I have gone back to the standard 1:30 – 2:00 rest intervals.  Today’s workout only took a total of 36 minutes.  It was rather refreshing.

Okay, now back to rest times.  If you are looking to make the most progress, in my humble opinion, it’s imperative that you keep a close eye on your rest between sets.  You want to keep all variables as constant as possible so you can accurately assess your progress at the end of a training cycle.  Of course you want to shoot for more weight or more reps each workout but in order to get a clearer picture of what’s going on, I believe the rest periods should be monitored.  My main reasoning for this is because the length of time in between sets will greatly affect the next set.  If you only take 30 seconds, you won’t have enough gas to get the same 8 reps you got on the previous set or you may not be able to use the intended weight.  This can screw up your record keeping if you decide to take the full 2 minutes during your next workout.

Altering Rest Periods

Changing my rest periods every 4-6 weeks or so is probably my favorite way to increase the overall intensity.  Depending on the training I am partaking in, I will usually set a goal to add weight/reps each workout with 2 minute intervals over a 4 week period.  Then for the 2^nd 4 weeks I will lower my rest periods to 1:30 while still focusing on adding weight/reps each training session.  Then, for the final 4 weeks I will lower my rest periods down to 1 minute between sets.  Normally during this period, I am only able to add weight/reps every other session (as I would usually be training 4 days per week).  This way, even if I do not add as much weight during the last 4 weeks I am still increasing intensity by lowering my rest periods to only 1 minute.  After a much needed deload, I will reset the weights and start another cycle much stronger than I was 12 weeks ago.  It’s magic, really.

So in light of all that, I just started a new training program and am gathering lots of data over the next 8 weeks for a friend of mine who is doing a little research on intensity, rest periods and their effect on muscle hypertrophy.   My challenge to you is to begin keeping close track of all variables in your training.  Set an achievable goal for a 6-8 week period and then monitor your progress by assessing your rest periods and focusing on progressive overload.  Once you are done check back in the comment section and let me know how much you improved.  Oh, and thanks to everyone who sent me cake and ice cream last week.