Bryce’s Take on Intensity

Exercise intensity is an issue that comes up frequently during training sessions. Many of you ask, “should my sessions still be very challenging? Or, “can I push myself less when I exercise on my own?” I will answer your questions with a question: “Which would be the most beneficial to your fitness; walking a 20-minute mile, jogging a 15-minute mile, or running a 6-minute mile?” It should be a pretty easy answer. While all three will burn close to the same amount of calories during the activity, the effects each has on your metabolism are substantially different. Being able to complete the same amount of work in less time is going to give you more positive benefits.

Before I delve into your metabolic conditioning (metcon), I will discuss strength training intensity. In your strength training set, usually the first part of your workout, you should maintain a slow and steady pace. When you get under that heavy weight you should be focused on that weight only. Once the weight is in your hands you shouldn’t physically be able to have a conversation. The weight should instantly give you a signal that it requires all of your focus. Between sets, I encourage conversation to take place. Your body actually requires 1-3 minutes of rest between heavy lifting sets in order to restore your energy system so you can move the next weight to your maximum potential, safely.

• Most people shy away from this because they don’t want to get bulky from strength training. If you believe this to be the case, look at me. Do you think I am bulky? I have been strength training for 15 years and I believe I am a good example of what effective strength training can achieve. In order to add bulk, your caloric intake and training would need to double or triple from its current state. Strength training is going to get you stronger, but it takes many years of strength training, the proper diet, and genetics to get bulky. Which is why we also try to guide you toward a nutrition plan that, if followed properly, would not allow this to happen.

During your metcon set, your intensity needs to hit another gear. This is the part of your workout that is going to further increase your metabolism. Since this is usually only done for a brief period of time, all of your mental focus should be working safely and quickly through the set. There is nothing wrong with finishing a workout a few minutes early. This just means your level of intensity progressed beyond the time frame I gave you to complete it. That is a good thing.

Personally, my metabolic conditioning workouts usually last 3-15 minutes. If a workout that I think should take me 10 minutes only takes me 8, I’m excited. That means my power output has increased. During that time, if I’m able to say anything remotely clever or intelligent, I know that I’m slacking in my workout. So, if I finish early, I’m not seeking out something else to do for those 2 minutes. I’m usually lying on the floor in a pool of sweat.

From a scientific viewpoint intensity is directly equal to power. Power = (force x distance)/time. This is the reason you see me holding the stopwatch so often during workouts. By measuring your work over time, I can directly see how much power you produced during your workout, and also be able to track it. So, when we repeat workouts we can use it as a gauge of your fitness improvement. Through the power formula, this is directly stating that more work in less time equals more intensity!

If you have to lie on the ground for 5 minutes to recover after a metcon workout, you are pushing yourself to the appropriate level. On the other hand, if you are able to have comfortable conversation during this portion, then your intensity is nowhere near where it could be. These are the benefits we are trying to instill through heavy lifting and metcon: increasing fitness, increasing strength, increasing metabolism, decreasing body fat, building stronger bones, or increasing lung capacity.

Without the proper mental focus, your improvement of these benefits is limited. You will get some gains in all aspects of fitness, but in order to truly receive them at the highest degree, your intensity has to step up. When you are training with us during your sessions, we do enjoy the little bit of conversation too, but our first priority is to make sure you get results. We aren’t satisfied with your session unless we feel that you got the most out of it.
Remember, our business is called Fitness Together. To me, this means that client and trainer are a team and neither can succeed unless both put forth 100% effort. If you are looking to get your fitness goals to the next level, intensity is the key.

Contributed by Bryce Wood