Intensity:

Intensity: The Cornerstone of Any Effective Training Strategy

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By Skip La Cour

The cornerstone to any effective training strategy is the amount of intensity that’s put into it. Whatever training routine or philosophy you decide to use, you must train with intensity. Without enough intensity, your training efforts will produce results that are mediocre at best.

But what exactly does that mean? You read about intensity in the bodybuilding and fitness magazines all the time. Your buddies in the gym often talk about it as well. But exactly what is the definition of intensity?

Intensity in training can be described as giving 100 percent of your mind, body, and soul to every repetition, every set, every exercise, and every workout. Intensity means pounding the weights so hard that every set throughout your entire workout ends in absolute failure. In other words, you have absolutely nothing left in reserve when the set is completed. Intensity is just as much as a mental feat as it is a physical one.

Intensity can also be defined as consistently striving for a higher level of excellence with every exercise, set, and rep you perform—regardless of what you've achieved in the past. You constantly strive to raise your standards for what you expect of yourself during every session. Intensity is never being satisfied with your current level of performance or development because, deep inside your soul, you know that you're capable of at least one more repetition, five more pounds, or a slight improvement in your form or execution.

When you train with this type of passion, zeal, and enthusiasm, constant improvement in your physique is inevitable. If you train with intensity, there’s no question that you’ll be more productive in your bodybuilding efforts than those people who do not. The higher your training intensity level becomes, the better you’ll be at initiating the muscle-building process.

Training “Hard” Doesn’t Necessarily Mean You Are Training with Intensity

Training “hard" is not the same as "training with intensity.” Isn’t it true that just about everyone thinks they train hard? If you don’t believe me, all you need to do is ask someone—anyone—in your gym. They’ll tell you with absolute certainty that they train hard. In fact, they’ll probably tell you that they train very hard.

Everyone starts their training efforts in the gym with a certain level of intensity. Hopefully, everyone will strive to build upon what they’ve achieved. At this current time, you are training at a certain level of intensity. How you define that level of intensity now may change over time.

Let’s face it. Some people are simply mentally tougher than others. Some people simply have the fortitude to accomplish more than others do. They can do more simply because they think they can. At the same time, some people are mentally weaker than others and achieve far less than what they really could—if they had the proper mindset.



Intensity is never being satisfied with your current level of performance or development because, deep inside your soul, you know that you're capable of at least one more repetition, five more pounds, or a slight improvement in your form or execution.


Therefore, comparing yourself to another person who you’ve seen train may not be a good indicator of what you truly can accomplish in the gym. Just because you can lift more weight or do more reps than someone else the same size as you, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are working at the level of intensity you are capable of training. Don’t ever assume you are already training with enough intensity. Trust me; there is someone out there somewhere who is the same size as you, has the same level of experience, or is the same age that can blow away what you are currently doing in the gym. You just haven’t come across that person yet!

No one can tell you when you are training at a high level of intensity. You have to figure that out for yourself with a tangible, concrete measurement system that can only apply to you. That is, of course, if you are willing to take a good, hard, and honest look at yourself.

Whatever level of intensity you are training at right now, the formula for taking it to a higher level is relatively simple. You must first establish specific standards for everything you do in the gym (the amount of weight you lift, the number of reps you perform, the magnitude of muscle stimulation you create, etc). Write those established standards down if you must to remember them. Then you must strive to exceed those expectations. Once you do, then you set higher ones. You must always keep striving for more. Intensifying your workouts is a continual, never-ending process. You can never become satisfied.