FUZO
11-25-2014, 01:02 PM
7 Ways To Increase the Intensity of Your Workouts
Hit a plateau and need to take your workouts to the next level? Then it might be time to amp up the intensity. The word "intensity" means a lot of different things to different people. Regardless of what it means for each individual though, one things remains the same: the intensity of your workouts will make or break the time you spend in the gym. Here are 7 ways to increase the intensity of your workouts, all of which you can do with your current training routine. 1. Increase the Volume To keep it simple, this basically means doing more sets. The more sets you do, the more your body needs to push itself in order for you to lift the needed weights. Just a quick warning, this doesn't mean that you should do just a random number of sets. Start by adding in an extra set or two in the beginning of your workouts and go from there. So if you're normally doing 3 sets of everything, you'd start increasing volume by doing 4 sets of your first couple exercises, for example. 2. Do Drop Sets Drop sets allow you to really push your muscles past their limits. As you reach failure on a particular set, you would lower the weight that you're doing, and continue doing more reps. Drop sets allow you to fatigue muscle fibers which may have been missed during the regular set. It's essentially like doing 2 sets in one. Drop sets are best done with assistance exercises, but can also be done with the core lifts like squats, deadlifts, and bench press. 3. Emphasize on the Negatives When lowering a weight in an exercise (otherwise called the "negative" portion), lower it very very slowly. If you normally do a 1-second tempo on your negatives, one way to emphasize them would be by doing a 5-second tempo. If you're doing the bench press exercise, for example, the bar should only get to the bottom part of the movement by the time you count to the number five. Though emphasizing the negative will greatly reduce the amount of weight you can use, your target muscle works harder, which ultimately means better gains. 4. Cheat on Your Reps Yes, you read that right. Although it's often not recommended, cheating sometimes has its place. If used correctly, cheating can help you increase the intensity of your workouts. You should only perform cheat techniques though after you've performed as many reps as you possibly can with proper form. If you're cheating on your first rep, you're doing it wrong. Here's an example: you're on your last set of bicep curls for 12 reps, but can barely get the weight up after 9 reps. On your last 3 reps, you would use momentum to get the weight up, but as soon as you hit the top position, lower the weight as slow as you can. Sound familiar? That's when the slow negatives come into play. See where this is going? 5. Switch Up the Rep Schemes One of the easiest ways to amp up the intensity of your workouts is through variety. Don't let your body stagnate by doing the same exercises in the same order with the same number of reps. For instance, if you traditionally use higher reps, try using lower reps. There's no need to always go for sets of 10 reps. This is the biggest mistake we see people doing in the gym. Everyone always does 10 reps of everything. If you find yourself always doing high rep stuff, mix in some low rep training schemes from time to time. This isn't to say lower reps are better, only that change is good. Variety is the spice of life, so make sure to switch things up.
Hit a plateau and need to take your workouts to the next level? Then it might be time to amp up the intensity. The word "intensity" means a lot of different things to different people. Regardless of what it means for each individual though, one things remains the same: the intensity of your workouts will make or break the time you spend in the gym. Here are 7 ways to increase the intensity of your workouts, all of which you can do with your current training routine. 1. Increase the Volume To keep it simple, this basically means doing more sets. The more sets you do, the more your body needs to push itself in order for you to lift the needed weights. Just a quick warning, this doesn't mean that you should do just a random number of sets. Start by adding in an extra set or two in the beginning of your workouts and go from there. So if you're normally doing 3 sets of everything, you'd start increasing volume by doing 4 sets of your first couple exercises, for example. 2. Do Drop Sets Drop sets allow you to really push your muscles past their limits. As you reach failure on a particular set, you would lower the weight that you're doing, and continue doing more reps. Drop sets allow you to fatigue muscle fibers which may have been missed during the regular set. It's essentially like doing 2 sets in one. Drop sets are best done with assistance exercises, but can also be done with the core lifts like squats, deadlifts, and bench press. 3. Emphasize on the Negatives When lowering a weight in an exercise (otherwise called the "negative" portion), lower it very very slowly. If you normally do a 1-second tempo on your negatives, one way to emphasize them would be by doing a 5-second tempo. If you're doing the bench press exercise, for example, the bar should only get to the bottom part of the movement by the time you count to the number five. Though emphasizing the negative will greatly reduce the amount of weight you can use, your target muscle works harder, which ultimately means better gains. 4. Cheat on Your Reps Yes, you read that right. Although it's often not recommended, cheating sometimes has its place. If used correctly, cheating can help you increase the intensity of your workouts. You should only perform cheat techniques though after you've performed as many reps as you possibly can with proper form. If you're cheating on your first rep, you're doing it wrong. Here's an example: you're on your last set of bicep curls for 12 reps, but can barely get the weight up after 9 reps. On your last 3 reps, you would use momentum to get the weight up, but as soon as you hit the top position, lower the weight as slow as you can. Sound familiar? That's when the slow negatives come into play. See where this is going? 5. Switch Up the Rep Schemes One of the easiest ways to amp up the intensity of your workouts is through variety. Don't let your body stagnate by doing the same exercises in the same order with the same number of reps. For instance, if you traditionally use higher reps, try using lower reps. There's no need to always go for sets of 10 reps. This is the biggest mistake we see people doing in the gym. Everyone always does 10 reps of everything. If you find yourself always doing high rep stuff, mix in some low rep training schemes from time to time. This isn't to say lower reps are better, only that change is good. Variety is the spice of life, so make sure to switch things up.