Do you want to know more about how to increase workout intensity correctly? You can and should alter the intensity of your workouts all the time. A key reason people don’t see the results they’re hoping for is that they aren’t increasing the intensity as much as they should. When a workout is no longer intense, it is too easy for you to do. Therefore, you’re never going to progress.
What Happens When You Increase the Intensity of a Workout Before You Are Ready?
Many people don’t understand how to increase the intensity safely. So today, we will go over a few fundamental principles that allow you to do this. But first, what happens when you up the intensity too soon?
Changing the intensity of a workout puts more demand on your body. Unfortunately, this can be too much for your body to handle if done incorrectly. Take running, for example. If you run 5k a day at the same pace and then decide to run 10k a day, your body must adapt to the increased intensity. The runs are twice as long, so your muscles work twice as hard. As a result, you end up with an Achilles tendon wrapping around your ankles because you’ve developed tendinitis. Too much intensity can put too much stress on ligaments, tendons, and muscles. As a result, you are likely to get injured!
How Do You Safely Increase the Intensity of a Workout?
As mentioned, it is paramount that you up the intensity of your workout routines to see genuine progress. But, there are right and wrong ways of doing this. To do it the right way, follow these two principles:
- Only change one thing at a time
- Take small steps
What do we mean by only changing one thing at a time? Okay, let’s imagine you’re into bodybuilding and want a bigger chest. If you bench press a lot, there are plenty of ways you can make the bench press more intense, forcing your muscles to grow bigger. For example, you could add more weight to the bar. Also, you could slow down the tempo of your repetitions. You could add more reps to the set, etc. Doing these things at once will put too much strain on your muscles and could cause an injury. Instead, pick one thing, change it, and then pick another thing later down the line when your body has adjusted again.
The same goes for taking small steps. Let’s go back to the running example earlier. You want to run 10k a day instead of 5, okay? How about you start by running 6k a day? Do this for a few days, then move up to 7 or 8k. Gradually, you let your body adjust to the new training stressors and make your way to 10k. Also, this allows your muscles to adapt and get stronger, preventing tendinitis or other common injuries.
The Last Word on Safely Increasing the Intensity of a Workout
In conclusion, the intensity of your workouts is the key to seeing fantastic results. But don’t bite off more than you can chew! Instead, change one thing at a time and take smaller steps. Thus, this helps you make your workouts more intense without damaging your body. If you are into resistance training, use progressive overload, a periodization plan, or a drop set to make the necessary changes. Finally, pair your workout with a diet, rest, and recovery plan to stay balanced and get better results. What do you think? Please share your response in the comment section below so that others can benefit from your experience.
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