Workout intensity matters! I wrote about this very recently, but I want to revisit it. I know some people are just going through the motions.
Your results are connected to how hard you can push yourself. So how can you use your own intensity to get the best results? Let me tell you.
WORKOUT INTENSITY BASICS
All right, here’s where it starts. The goal of almost every workout is to challenge yourself. There are some exceptions, but will talk about those later. Your goal when you push play should be to push yourself. That is not easy and that is not comfortable! Being out of breath, sweating, being sore, and feeling exhausted are to be expected.
You also want to maintain an attitude of personal reflection. You should be able to look back, think over your workouts, and know if you gave your best effort. If you think you can do more next time, do it! Being someone who continually strives to be better will do exactly that, MAKE YOU BETTER!
WHEN TO DIAL IT BACK WITH INTENSITY
There are a few cases when you want to dial it back. The first being when you think you may be injured. This does not mean feeling sore, that’s a good thing, but if you are really concerned you might be injured you need to dial it back.
**I always recommend going in to see a doctor. It might be overkill but I would rather be safe than sorry. What could be a fast recovery from a little injury often turns into a big deal when we neglected. So see a professional if you are concerned.
Recovery Weeks are the next time you want to dial it back. The workouts will often be designed to do this automatically. Fight the urge to squeeze in some extra lifting or intense cardio. Take time to recover and I’ll back your intensity.
Finally, I will dial it back if I feel like I’m getting sick. I still like to get out there and work out but I won’t go as hard. I want to get my blood flowing and still burn some calories, but I don’t want to tax my body as it fights off whatever I have.
5 LEVELS OF INTENSITY
1) Beat your previous efforts. This is the ground floor forever. If you want to be someone who works out with intensity, you want to focus on being better than you were the week before.
2) Move from modified moves to unassisted moves. As you increase your personal level of intensity, make your next goal to be completing workouts without having to use a modifier. This can take a long time, so don’t beat yourself up. Even if you’re swapping out one exercise from modified to the real deal each week, you’re making great progress.
3) Keep up with the cast! Here’s where get serious LOL your next level of intensity is to keep up with the cast of your workouts. See how many reps they’re doing, what waits there using, and go get it! When you can hang here… you are intense!
4) BEAT the cast! Did you see this one coming? That’s right, beat the cast. Do more than they’re doing. These are extremely fit people, so you will have to be working out with intensity to do this.
5) Make it harder! Finally, this is where it gets really intense. You can do this many ways. You can skip rest periods on your workouts, you can add a weighted vest or backpack, or create a crazy hybrid with only the most challenging workouts. There is no doubt that you will be bringing it with intensity at this level.
At all these levels, you are going to be working out with intensity. What is awesome is that if you’re doing this, that level of intensity will take you to a new level. There is no way you won’t progress!
Keep bringing it with intensity teamRIPPED!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
