Understanding Intensity: The key to achieving better fitness results

When it comes to fitness, there are countless ways to measure progress, but one key term often misunderstood is intensity. In fitness, intensity isn’t about how hard a workout feels, how much you sweat, or even how exhausted you are at the end. Instead, intensity is a measurable and crucial factor that directly impacts your fitness results. In this article, we’ll break down what intensity means in a practical sense, explain how it differs from volume, and show why it is essential for improving your fitness effectively.

What is intensity?

In simple terms, intensity is a measure of how much work you’re doing in a given amount of time. It’s about how quickly you move a certain amount of weight or complete a series of exercises. For example, in a CrossFit workout, intensity is calculated by measuring the total amount of work done (force multiplied by distance) and then dividing that by the time it takes to complete the workout. The faster you do the work, the higher the intensity.

This objective way of measuring intensity makes it different from other factors like how hard a workout might feel subjectively. Heart rate, sweat, or muscle soreness don’t always tell the full story. You might feel tired after a long workout, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve trained at a high intensity. In contrast, shorter, more intense efforts can deliver bigger and faster fitness gains, thanks to the measurable power output they produce.

Why does intensity matter?

Intensity is the key to maximizing fitness results. When you train at a high intensity, you stimulate your body to adapt quickly, resulting in better strength, endurance, fat loss, and overall fitness. Whether you want to build muscle, improve cardiovascular health, or simply feel and perform better in daily life, working at an appropriate level of intensity is crucial.

What makes intensity even more powerful is its broad impact on the body. It doesn’t just affect the muscles involved in the workout but leads to changes throughout your entire system. It increases your metabolic rate, improves hormone balance, and even boosts mental sharpness. Whether you’re lifting weights, running, or doing bodyweight exercises, intensity ensures you’re getting the most out of your time in the gym.

Intensity vs. Volume: What’s the difference?

One of the common misconceptions in fitness is confusing volume with intensity. Volume refers to the total amount of work done, such as the number of repetitions, sets, or exercises completed during a workout. For instance, doing 100 push-ups is high-volume training, but if you take a long time to complete them, the intensity remains low. On the other hand, if you complete those same 100 push-ups in a short period, the intensity goes up significantly.

Here’s a simple way to think about it: volume is about how much work you do, while intensity is about how fast or hard you do that work. Both play a role in fitness, but they serve different purposes. Volume can help you build endurance and capacity over time, while intensity is what drives rapid improvements in fitness.

The problem with high volume training

Many people assume that high volume equals high effectiveness. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that longer, more exhaustive workouts are better because they feel hard. But high-volume training comes with problems.

• Injury risk: Doing too much can lead to overuse injuries. When you focus on volume, you might sacrifice good form or push your body beyond safe limits. This can lead to strains, sprains, or worse.
• Burnout: High volume training, especially when paired with high frequency, can lead to mental and physical burnout. It’s common to feel worn out and lose motivation when you’re always pushing for more and more reps or sets.
• Plateaus: Doing more doesn’t always lead to better results. Your body can adapt to high volume training over time, and without increasing intensity, you may hit a plateau where progress stalls.

The important takeaway here is that high volume doesn’t automatically mean high intensity. Just because a workout is long or includes a lot of repetitions doesn’t mean it’s pushing your limits or delivering the best results.

Why intensity should be your focus

Instead of focusing solely on volume, prioritizing intensity is the smarter approach for most people. Here’s why:

• Efficiency: High-intensity workouts are shorter but pack a bigger punch. You don’t need to spend hours at the gym to see great results. In fact, a 20-minute high-intensity workout can be more effective than a 60-minute moderate workout.
• Better Adaptation: When you push yourself to work harder in a shorter time, your body is forced to adapt quickly. This leads to faster improvements in strength, endurance, and overall fitness.
• Increased fat loss: Intensity leads to a higher calorie burn both during and after your workout. It increases your metabolic rate for hours, meaning you continue to burn fat even after you’ve stopped exercising.

How to apply intensity to your workouts

Now that you understand the importance of intensity, here are some tips for applying it to your training:

1. Track your progress: Keep a record of your workouts, including how much weight you lifted, how many reps you completed, and how long it took. Over time, aim to complete the same amount of work faster or increase the weight lifted while maintaining your speed.
2. Prioritize workouts with task priority: In CrossFit language these are the “for time” workouts whereas the “AMRAPS” are time priority workouts. This will push you to maintain a high level of effort throughout the workout as you will want to complete the work as fast as you can.
3. Increase weights gradually: Challenge yourself by gradually increasing the weight you’re lifting, while still aiming to complete the work in the same or less time. This ensures you’re constantly working at a high intensity.
4. Scale appropriately: The primary reason for scaling is to maintain the intended stimulus of the training; not to make the workout easier. This means, that good scaling will push you to the limit; to the place where intensity is at highest. In many cases some scaling is in place even when you have the skill and capacity to do the workout as prescribed. Remember, the power equation includes time. When doing the workout Rx takes a lot longer than the intended time, scaling correctly will increase intensity not the other way around.

Why low intensity work is the best way to add volume

When it comes to adding volume to your training, the best approach is to incorporate true low-intensity work, such as steady-state cardio with a zone 2 heart rate, light mobility sessions, or long walks, rather than extending the duration of high-intensity CrossFit workouts. Low-intensity work allows your body to recover while still building endurance and promoting active recovery. Pushing high-intensity CrossFit workouts to longer durations can lead to overtraining, fatigue, and injury, whereas low-intensity volume complements your intense sessions by enhancing recovery and overall fitness without the risks associated with prolonged, intense efforts.

Conclusion: The Power of intensity

Intensity is the cornerstone of effective fitness training. It’s not about how long you work out or how many reps you can do—it’s about how hard you push yourself in a given amount of time. By focusing on increasing intensity rather than volume, you’ll see faster improvements, better fat loss, and overall enhanced fitness. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced athlete, intensity is your key to unlocking better results and achieving your fitness goals faster.

• Lucas

About the coach:

Meet Lucas: a seasoned coach with a positive mindset and a direct approach. With ten years of full-time coaching and thousands of hours under his belt, Lucas blends encouragement with straight talk. Armed with dual degrees in Physical Education/Sports and Business Administration, along with a CrossFit Level 3 Trainer certification, he’s dedicated to excellence in coaching. From performance analysis to advanced seminars, Lucas is your guide to achieving your fitness goals with precision and positivity.