I keep hearing about how intensity is a key to succesfull workouts, but what exactly is intensity? Hitting the weights with all you got? And how do you seperate intensity from overtraining?
I myself have a definition for “Intensity”
Force/Power + Focus/Concentration + Time + Passion + energy + greatness =
INTENSITY!
PPP
Intensity is the percentage or proportion of total possible volitional muscular output from a muscle or muscular system that is being applied at a given point in time (or words to that effect, and everyone seems to prefer their own words).
To be entirely accurate though, most discussions involving Intensity are actually referring to Terminal Intensity, i.e. the Intensity (percentage or proportion of total possible muscular output) reached at the instant when a set is terminated, which is in fact a special instance of Intensity.
So in essence what we’re talking about is how close you’ve actually come to giving everything you’ve got in the tank at the point where you decide to stop trying and put the weight down.
Great topic!
On the question of intensity vs. overtraining.
As Trainer Bill indicated, intensity is a function the pecentage of maximal output that we can “push” a muscle/muscle unit or groups of muscles/muscle units.
OVERTRAINING, however, is a function of “overshooting” our recovery abilities.
So:
INTENSITY: The maximal effort we can put into performing an activity (for most of us, lifting weights).
OVERTRAINING: Overwhelming the bodies recovery abilities, which is more a function of TIME in recovery than a direct function of the intensity of our workouts. (i.e. an “aerobics bunny” who spends 5 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year on a treadmill and stepmaster can overtrain).
Hope this helps!
Mufasa
What are the differences between Absolute and Relative Intensity in Speed and in Maximal Strength?
TAT:
That question is WAY out of my league!
I’m curious about the answer too…
Mufasa
tat,
While there are probably several theories regarding absolute and relative intensity in regards to strength and speed training, my take is:
Absolute intensity for strength training refers to your 1RM. Relative intensity refers to a percentage of your 1RM. Most training programs consist of prescribing sets/reps at a given percentage of your one-rep max (i.e. 5x5 @85% 1RM etc.). Therefore, when referring to intensity of a given workout most people are referring to the relative intensity. Since your 1RM(absolute intensity)should improve with proper training, periodic testing of your 1RM is needed to assess your absolute intensity.
The same principle applies to speed training, where your absolute intensity would be the maximum speed you can maintain for a given distance, and relative intensity would be the percent of that maximum that you would run during prescribed training (10X100m @ 85% max).
In regards to intensity versus overtraining, any training program must take in to account three main variables, frequency, intensity, and duration. While any one of these variables can be changed independently of one another, they must be thought of to co-exist along a continuum. Proper balance among these three variables is necessary for maximizing human performance while avoiding overtraining. To illustrate, if you increased all three variables at once it would not take long for the training stimulus to outweigh your body’s ability to respond (recover) and overtraining would occur. Conversely, if you decrease all the variables, the stimulus would be insufficient to either elicit a response or maximize the response. This is why you see all the articles on this site that talk about periodizing training (strength phase, hypertrophy phase, power phase, muscle endurance phase). Proper manipulation of these variables will result in a balance in the training stimulus and the body’s ability to repond or adapt and therefore maximize performance.
Designing a program to increase performance parameters for a given sport/athlete is blend of art and science.
Take care,
Ryan