Training Intensity
Dumbbell Bench Press
In the last article, I discussed how total workload can be gradually increased as a means for consistently inching your way up to higher and higher training poundages. However, focusing on training intensity is a far more common method that is used for gaining strength and muscle mass.
How Bodybuilding Think of Intensity
In bodybuilding circles, the amount of intensity used during a set often refers to how far a lifter pushes relative to reaching a point of failure. If they push all the way to failure or beyond, they would refer to it as a high training intensity. On the other hand, the further they fall short of pushing a set to failure, the less the training intensity.
How Powerlifters Think of Intensity
Powerlifters tend to see intensity a different way and base intensity on the percentage of their single rep max. The closer they come to their single rep max, the more intense they are training. The lighter they are training relative to their single rep max, the less intense they are training.
In this article, I will be referring to intensity both in terms of how hard a lifter pushes relative to failure, and in terms of increasing the amount of weight lifted. Bodybuilders who prefer high intensity training often push to failure or beyond in every workout, or every other workout. They use intensity as the driving force for gaining both strength and muscle mass and tend to use five to twelve reps for their sets.
One Way that Powerlifters Cycle Training Intensity
Powerlifters are more likely than bodybuilders to vary the intensity across a training cycle. When using straight line periodization, their training intensity may vary throughout the cycle in relationship to how close they come to reaching a point of failure. On the other hand, the intensity increases more and more in terms of the amount of weight they are lifting throughout a cycle.
We can look at an example of a powerlifter who uses linear periodization by increasing the weight every week while also using a rep scheme of 8 reps for three week, 5 reps for three weeks, and 3 reps for three weeks. This training plan would constitute a nine week training cycle. The starting weight for week one is 70% of the lifters single rep max for the bench press, squat, and deadlift, and the weight is increased by 3% each week throughout the nine week cycle. The full nine week plan would be done as follows:
Week 1
8 reps at 70%
Week 2
8 reps at 73%
Week 3
8 reps at 76%
Week 4
5 reps at 79%
Week 5
5 reps at 82%
Week 6
5 reps at 85%
Week 7
3 reps at 88%
Week 8
3 reps at 91%
Week 9
3 reps at 94%
Variations in Intensity During a Training Cycle
If we look at each three week cycle for each rep range, the sets are going to come closer and closer to failure with each successive week for three weeks. While the intensity continues to rise in terms of the amount weight that is being used throughout the entire nine week cycle, the intensity zig zags up and down in terms of how hard the lifter is pushes relative to training failure throughout the nine week cycle. Each three week cycle with a given rep number starts out below failure the first week, and is very close to failure by the third week. By the ninth week, a lifter will have to push for all they are worth to reach three reps at 94% of their single rep max.
The basic point is that many bodybuilders look to training intensity to failure as the focal point for stimulating strength and muscle growth. Powerlifters also focus on training intensity as the basic focal point for increase in strength, but powerlifters tend to use a process where they progressively work their way into more and more intense training over the course of a training cycle. Whether you choose to focus on intensity the way a bodybuilder does, or the way a powerlifter does, intensity can be used as a means to boost your strength and muscle mass.
Gaining strength through the use of increasing total workload was the topic of the last article. This article focused on intensity, and the next article will focus on improving force and rep speed as a means for increasing strength. Best of training to you.