Intensity. How do you get it and how long can you keep it going? I know we all love those balls to the wall workout where we limp out of the gym and know that we have given our best, but how do you deal with those workouts that just don’t match that level of intensity? Currently, I have the best workouts when working on my chest or my legs (I am becoming addicted to squats!) yet I do not have the same level of intensity when I do biceps and triceps. I have changed my workout around, but I still feel as if I am just going through the motions. Any ideas on how to get past this mental block?
For me I do not know if I use intensity. I do however use a very detailed workout log. My goal each and every workout is to exceed the previous workout even if it is only by one rep. So for example on bench I may do 135 for 15, 185 for 12 225 for 10 245 for 6 and 265 for 2. As long as I do all the sets up to 245 for the amount I did before…then I hit 245 for 7 but only hit 265 for 2 I consider it a successful workout. I may on occasion (once a month perhaps…blow off the notebook…and just do whatever I want for those body parts, however for the most part all I work towards is getting at least one extra rep. To me this forces me…no matter how I feel…to push, and I am beyond pissed off if I don’t meet my “beat by one rep rule” If for some reason, it just isnt in me…then I will kinda cheat and throw in a rep on my “going down” sets. For example…after 265 I go to 225 then 185. I usually have enough energy to get at least one extra rep on the 185 downside…that is enough for me to call it a successful workout. For me this kind of erases the whole intensity idea…it is just about one rep for me…simplifies things.