Generally, most folks start with all the good intentions and intensity they need to get going in a physical pursuit.
Yet, whether it comes after the honeymoon phase as a newcomer to the activity or when you’ve already achieved a relatively high level and get complacent—it could be you aren’t training hard enough.
True enough, as with all things physical, any ‘results’ depends on your chosen pursuit and the reasons for undertaking it.
But the simple fact is there’ll need to be periodic increases in intensity for any progression in training to occur and continue—whether in terms of skill set, weight loss, muscle building and strength, confidence, etc., etc.
You might notice some of the tell-tale signs that you aren’t training hard enough through a lack of ongoing results or just in the way you feel.
Let’s try and put this into the right context using F.I.T.T.
What is the FITT Principle?
Put simply: Frequency; Intensity; Type, and Time
Frequency: The regularity of your training—does it align with your actual goals? Finding the optimal frequency according to what you are out to achieve is huge, and a once-per-week jog will hardly get you ‘match fit.’
Intensity: This is the biggie—going through the motions or going through the roof? Intensity is something that needs to be built gradually along with improved fitness, form, and mental toughness, and can often be the very thing many gym-goers are falling short on.
Type: All other roads lead to this one—what type of training you are undertaking and the reasons for doing so will impact all the other components. Are you looking to compete at championship levels or simply do a hobby? Do you undertake a balanced regime of body movements and applications or stay mainly in the same position as with cycling?
Time: Again, related to the last point, but if we are trying to get fit or drop pounds, we should be aware that 45 mins are more than enough. Long-distance cycling or running, on the other hand, is likely to require a good few hours.
How Can You Measure Workout Intensity?
Depending on what activity you are doing, the degree of intensity you are emanating could be physically measured in various ways:
- Partner training and feedback
- Physiological signs—sweating, increased heart rate, hunger after training
- Quantifiable attributes like weight/reps/sets completed
- Developing intuitiveness and honesty regarding your own body and training
No matter what kind of coach or training partner you may have (assuming you have one), it’s always going to be down to you alone to find that extra push, and it’s you alone who knows how you feel.
When Should You Increase Workout Intensity?
Most people who start some kind of exercise or training activity do so with the thought of improvement in mind. And for many to get going might be the biggest push they ever need to make.
But as we know, the body and mind soon adapt to any new stimulus, which means the approach, the methodology, and quite often the initial reasons and goals will need to be re-visited and adapted time and time again. At least if you are in for the long haul, that is—and there’s a lot to be said for never doing the same workout twice.
This is also why ‘fads’ don’t work—eventually. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. One of the reasons you see ‘fat’ joggers or cyclists is that they don’t have enough of the components in place to ‘get’ the fitness/physical activity thing.
You may reach a plateau or point in your training when you feel you need to challenge yourself somehow. That’s assuming you aren’t being challenged in other ways, like competition or examinations.
If you are primarily using exercise as a weight loss tool, are you creating measurable results? The same has to be said for strength and muscle gains.
F.I.T.T. and Intensity
If we start with the ‘F’ it’s easy to see how someone already training seven days per week probably couldn’t do much to tweak the frequency. Maybe increasing the time as well until training is all day every day—but then where do you go?
I think we all know the answer here. Intensity is the key ingredient of any authentic progressive training rather than volume. r than he sure-fire route to injury, and most don’t have that energy or motivation.
Rather you want to achieve dynamic and explosive levels of energy and power that can be turned on and off more easily. This can be achieved through working at shorter interval periods at a higher intensity, then resting briefly and repeating.
If you have hit a weight loss plateau with your current plan or are simply not achieving any hypertrophy from your gym workouts, HIIT would be the way to go.
HIIT and Intensity
Compared to jogging (where many runners tend to do the same route at the same pace every time) you don’t see too many HIIT proponents carrying extra pounds if they do it properly. Or boxers—these folks work at high intensity for short periods, usually in rounds, which can be numbered according to whatever activity is undertaken.
The number of rounds can always be increased for more volume, but the real key ingredient is the work and rest times, which can be tweaked accordingly.
Intensity can be tweaked constantly with this type of training. For instance, two minutes of work followed by one minute of rest will be less intense than 30 seconds of work followed by 5 seconds of rest, then onto the next round, etc.
So if you feel that your current regime could use a boost in intensity, try incorporating some HIIT and challenge yourself to new levels–don’t just keep adding extra miles or extra plates!
