Here we are, charging through September and you’ve been showing up for your workouts 3, 4, sometimes even 5 times a week… BUT, you’ve stopped seeing results. Here’s the next lever you should pull: INTENSITY.
Let me back up. In our last post we did a deep dive into the role of frequency, and the central takeaway was that a critical volume of repetition (and therefore stress stimulus) will help create desirable adaptations. Do MORE of the thing that creates changes. We’re in agreement that repetition is a critical ingredient to improving your capacity for anything… but are all repetitions created equal? No, of course they’re not. You know this intrinsically, right? Just because you eat three meals a day does not mean they all pack the same nutritional punch. Correct? Just because you have 1,000 Facebook friends doesn’t mean they’re all as friendly as the next, right?
Exercising occasionally but not seeing results? Increase the frequency.
Exercising frequently but still not seeing results? Increase intensity.
How do I add intensity?
Added fitness intensity can come in the form of increased distance, speed, or elevation to a regular running route, or added reps, load, and complexity to a lifting practice. Additional intensity begets additional adaptations.
As a coach I see people underdelivering effort all the time—more often than I’d like, and more often than I recommend. They’re not lifting heavy enough, they’re not moving fast enough, they’re not getting close enough to earnest exhaustion for their body to realize: “Oh shit, that was a big challenge. I better make adaptations so I can do a challenge like this in the future.”
that doesn’t feel so good
Let it be known: intensity usually doesn’t feel good physically. It shows as burning legs, sweat stinging your eyes, maybe a little lightheadedness, lungs that feel like you just smoked 10 cigarettes, and maybe even nausea. The warning lights on your dashboard may start blinking, the alarm bells of corporal distress may ring. And here’s the thing—those don’t necessarily go away as your fitness improves. What changes is that it takes more intensity to trigger them. Over time, you’ll find some peace with the discomfort, and maybe even an appreciation for the delayed, very gradual growth that comes from it. Intensity doesn’t feel good—and that’s okay. For more on this, consider reading Michael Easter’s excellent book, The Comfort Crisis.
Sometimes folks show up at my gym at the end of a day, having dealt with whatever crap they had at work and thinking about the long list of things they have to do tomorrow to keep their family on track. This can give them a “I deserve a pat on the back, at least I showed up” approach to that session. Sometimes that’s the attitude people bring into all sessions: “Hey, I’m here—that’s a win. Everything else in life is hard, I don’t need the gym to be hard too.”
I get it—sometimes we all have days that feel more like surviving than thriving and we need a little bit of grace and to dial it back. Absolutely. I take those days myself. But this should be the exception, not the norm. If you find a defeatist “life is hard” mindset frequently taking a toll on your workouts, I encourage a pivot of framing: use exercise as an outlet, and find that intensity gear as a vessel for grappling with some of the hard stuff in life. Channel those work frustrations and familial disputes and traffic conundrums into that barbell or rowing machine or running trail, it really can work.
For the record: there are absolutely times in life when you need a deeper check-in and to take care of yourself—get some extra sleep, connect with your partner/family, talk to a friend, or get some therapy. I’m NOT advocating for ignoring real struggles. I’m just tired of watching people waste their time and money by holding back in their workouts day in and day out, month in and month out.
So… more intensity, always?
So once we pull the intensity lever, does this mean everything, always, as HARD as possible? Do we always have to be going balls to the wall? No. Absolutely not. But high intensity is a critical tool in your toolkit—one that most folks haven’t yet even tried to wield. Hopefully, a good program and coach will offer guidance regarding when you should be going really hard/heavy/fast and when you should be strategically backing your foot off the gas pedal.
The takeaway is this: once you’ve added frequency, the next lever to pull is intensity. Intensity is the spice of life… Workout with intensity, live with intensity, love with intensity. If frequency of a stressor is how often we vote in favor of a certain change, intensity is how loudly that ballot speaks.
If you’re ready to add intensity to your routine, reach out to ActiveVT and learn how our programs can help you reach your fitness goals.
