Evaluating and Improving Training Intensity to LEVEL UP Your Progress!

Have you been working out for months, even years, and feel like you’re just not making the progress you’d expect?

👉🏻 You aren’t getting any stronger and haven’t hit a PR in a LONG TIME? 

👉🏻 You can’t see any improvements in muscle mass or definition?

👉🏻 You’re NEVER sore, even in the first two weeks of a new stimulus?

If you said yes to any or all of the above, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate how effective your training sessions actually are.

Are you just going through the motions just to say you got your workout in. Or are you actually TRAINING your body in a way that will help you hit new PR’s, change your body composition, and prevent injury?

Not sure how to tell the difference?

Then you’re in the right place as this blog post is going to explain the importance of training intention and intensity and the role they play in your ability to  build the strong, sexy, badass body of your dreams! 

Progress is waiting, so let’s dive right in! 

Training with Intention

Training intention refers to how deliberately you execute the exercise you are performing. 

This starts the moment you set up for the exercise and doesn’t end until the completion of the last rep. It has a large impact on the effectiveness of the exercise and whether or not you’ll see the results you want. 

For example, if you are performing an RDL and you are looking around at everyone else, and moving as quickly as possible through each rep you

a) Are increasing the likelihood that you will get injured (hello back pain) and 

b) Are not going to create enough glute tension to stimulate growth

Whereas FOCUSING on your performance of the RDL (meaning you aren’t looking around at what everyone else is doing), and executing with proper form and a slow and controlled tempo WILL yield more glute tension. Which when combined with proper resistance selection (intensity) will stimulate growth.

Training with Intensity

Training intensity refers to the degree to which you are CHALLENGING yourself while training.

Training with enough intensity to elicit change requires a combination of INTENT as well as appropriate resistance selection. 

This is dictated by YOUR level of strength, which is why instead of providing suggested resistances, I provide my clients with a suggested number of Reps in Reserve (RIR) for each exercise. This helps you to gauge whether or not the resistance selected IS challenging enough and when it’s time to increase.

For example, an exercise is programmed with 2RIR, this means you should feel as though you could ONLY complete 2 additional reps by the time you reach the end of your set.

So, if completing a set of 10 with 2RIR this means you should select a resistance with which you could ONLY complete 12 total reps (10 + 2). If you get to the end of your 10th rep and feel as though you could complete an additional, 3, 4 or more reps, then you are not meeting the prescribed intensity of the exercise and need to increase resistance.

Testing Yourself SAFELY 

How do you know what exactly it feels like to have only 2, 3 or 4 reps left in the tank? 

By actually taking some of your sets to TRUE FAILURE in training with exercises you can do so safely (ex. leg press, hack squat, bench press, shoulder press, etc.) 

And I don’t mean the “Oh this is hard, I think I’m just gonna stop here” point (which is where you likely stop your sets now, and why you aren’t making progress). 

But to the “I literally cannot physically do a single more rep” point. 

For example, if you are prescribed a set of 10 with (2RIR) for a DB Flat Bench Press and unsure whether or not the resistance selected is appropriate, then take the selected resistance and complete as many reps as you can until you are unable to safely complete a single additional rep with good form. 

If you find that you were only able to complete 1-2 additional reps then you have selected an appropriate resistance.

If you find that you were able to complete 3, 4 or more additional reps then you should increase the resistance used for the next set.

The new resistance should reflect the number of additional reps you were able to complete. If you were able to only complete 3 - 4 more reps then a smaller jump (2.5 - 5 lbs) may be appropriate. If you were able to complete 5+ additional reps then a larger jump (10+) lbs may be appropriate.

Remember, the more time you spend training with a resistance that DOES NOT allow you to train at the desired level of intensity, the less progress you are going to make.

There are going to be hard and uncomfortable reps; those are the reps through which our bodies are challenged to adapt and grow. Avoiding them means you are actively choosing to stay the same.

So, if you ever feel unsure about whether you are using an appropriate resistance for a specific RIR - use this method to test yourself and make adjustments as needed. 

Don’t forget about FORM 

In addition to training with intention and intensity, it is important that you are also executing the exercises safely and effectively.

Meaning you are executing in a way that actually targets the muscle groups you intend to target AND you aren’t trying to lift outside of your current strength, sacrificing form and putting your body in a compromising position. 

Both of these situations will only HINDER, not help your progress.

And if you want to learn a little more about how to evaluate your form to ensure that you are performing the programmed exercises safely and effectively, check out last week's blog post on my Top Three Tips for Recording the BEST Form Videos for review! 

Bringing it All Together 

When it comes to training and truly changing the shape of your body, it’s important to remember that you can have THE BEST program in the world, but it will not work if YOU do not work. 

Does that mean you have to show up and go balls to the wall and feel like you’re leaving EVERYTHING out on the floor every time you train - no. 

We all have days and weeks where we feel like we’re just surviving and going through the motions - but that shouldn’t be every session of every week. 

If you want to make progress, and build a strong, sexy, toned body, you’re gonna need to train with enough intention and intensity to elicit the change you're looking for.