Fitness #6

How Intense is Your Workout?

Surprisingly, being in a gym 6-7 days a week doesn’t inspire one to workout more. If anything, you want to keep your workouts as quick as possible so you don’t hav

e to spend any more time there than necessary. However, I think this is a good policy that more people should adhere to. There’s something to be said for the intensity of a workout.

Sunday: Chest/triceps workout

-Incline Bench – 4 sets of 8 @ 215 lbs, drop set

s at 185 and 135
-Dumbbell Chest Fly – 4 sets of 8 @ 40 lbs
-Straight-Arm pullover – 2 sets of 8 @ 80 lbs, 2 sets @ 85 lbs
-Weighted Dips – 4 sets of 8 w/ 100 lbs
-Chest Fly Machine – 3 sets of 10
In and out in 45 minutes.

Now this is intense

Obviously the intensity above is something you have to work up to, but it goes back to my sand dune analogy. Doing all of the above in 1.5 hours instead of 45 minutes is just scratching a layer off of the dune, while really pushing and overloading your muscles really blitzes it. Muscles (and just about all other facets of fitness – cardio capacity, aerobic endurance, etc) grow in accordance with the overload principle (very basically, the body adapts to the stresses you place upon it; the more you put on it, the proportionally greater adaption), so it just makes sense to crank up the intensity of a workout. The ways to do it? More weight, less rest time between sets and more sets/exercises. Right now, I’m choosing to focus on having less time between sets and I’ve seen noticeable strength gains. As always, different things work for different people, but one of these intensity tactics could help you break through your plateaus.

Powerlifters and olympic lifters abstain.