What lies within each of us ready to be unleashed at the most opportune moment, is a searing force hard to define. Unless you have taken yourself to this point and breached the fine line of sanity, you may have difficulty understanding the true meaning of intensity. As raw as the innate desire to be better each time you hit the gym, intensity is the underlying yet sometimes unforgotten catalyst to every great workout. Those who lag in the gym and feel like their physique is at a standstill, often times upon reflection find that they are lacking big time in the intensity department. Usually the quick fix to this problem is finding someone who is so intense in the gym that most are afraid to go near them, then observing them or even catching a workout with them. You’ll find their methods insane and possibly on the verge of crazy, but at the same time be in admiration of the physique they’ve been able to achieve.
Intensity comes in many forms and is as unique to each individual as the physiques themselves. What tends to be troublesome are those trainers who take the idea of intensity and turn it into a showcase to display just how intense they are, or think they are. Yelling, screaming and even pounding on their chests or the equipment to “psych up” is a common sight at many gyms. While I am in no position to judge the effectiveness of these routines, I simply just believe that true intensity comes from within, should stay within and be a quiet force driving you through your workouts. Volume and antics to prepare for a lift have no scientific background to support their use and in my opinion serve as only wasted energy. I’ve seen true intensity before and it can be seen in the eyes of those who are capable of conjuring it up and in the aftermath of its presence.
Teaching intensity is an almost impossible task to achieve, as digging into the psyche far enough to find it largely depends on how far the individual is willing to go. That being said, there are a few techniques you can try if you think you may be lacking in this department. Keep in mind using intensity to fuel your workouts is a tactical approach and should never be taken lightly. Also, to maintain a heightened level of intensity is very difficult to do but by following the suggestions presented below will at least give you a fair shot at keeping yourself “in the zone”.
Intensity booster #1: Use your emotions
Think of something that angers you, makes you want to cry or something that excites you for an endorphin rush. The power of your emotions can trigger an intensity so great that once the set is complete, you may have no recollection of the lift whatsoever. You’ll feel like you’ve blacked out and only those around you will have any knowledge of what you accomplished. This may sound scary but this is definitely a form of true intensity and a product of mind management.
Intensity booster #2: The fight or flight response
Adrenaline has been linked to outrageous feats of strength and can turn a mild-mannered individual into a complete beast. Getting to this point is extremely difficult to accomplish and it was once explained to me that the only way you can get here in the gym is to put on a weight you know is going to crush you, unrack it and then either live or die. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but being the intelligent lifter you are, you’ll take this statement and apply it to new weights that you have never moved before to break through plateaus and set new personal bests.
Intensity booster #3: Motivate to annihilate
Find what makes you want to be better. Read all the literature you can about the greats, study the physiques you most admire and then picture your body changing. Talk with those who inspire you to be great. Then when the time comes to jack up the intensity, extract and employ all the motivating energy you can and crush some weight.
Intensity booster #4: Dymetadrine Xtreme
Supplementing with the most powerful pre-workout product to ever hit the market will turn you into a bar bending, children scaring, intensity breathing freak. It flips the internal intensity switch to on and makes you want to tear shit up. My suggestion is to make sure you get to a gym shortly after you have taken this product for the safety and protection of your fellow mankind.
The take away message from this article is to find what stokes your fire. I understand that the scenarios I presented above with the hollering and screaming may work for some, but in keeping with the idea of intelligent trainers being the best trainers, the sight of someone beating their head against a bar prior to lifting the weight does nothing for the meathead stereotype our industry has been painted with. True intensity is derived from within, from a deep dark place that only you can find. Learn how to call upon it, manage it and use it productively. It may just end up being the missing ingredient to an otherwise respectable training regime.
