How do you measure "intensity"?

[J_J]

JJ your reading way too much into this bro.

You can't always base intensity on total work load or a log number each workout. Hell I could just be having a freaking good day were I'm strong as shit and beat pr's let and right, doesn't mean the workout was intense. Also i could eat like shit on the weekend come back 5-10 pounds heavier (extra leverage) and again come back toss weight around like it was a rage doll. Numbers aren't always a good measure of intensity. When your physically spent, the muscle you worked that day feel like a piece of rubber and practically numb (imo) is a great sign that you brought your A-game and you went balls to the wall.

I'm not reading anything into it. I am sticking to the original question which is "How do you MEASURE your intensity in the gym?"

If you had a reliable way to measure how you "feel" going into a workout then that would be useful. But how you "feel" is often deceptive. For example, I may not feel like my blood pressure is high, but if I get the test done and its 165/95 then its high despite how I feel. Or I may be convinced that working with half the weight doing dumbbell curls will lead to bigger arms, but when I take a measurement after 6 weeks of doing that and find my arms aren't any bigger or even smaller then how I "feel" they are or should be doesn't affect that.

When it comes to the gym the only thing we can measure is our performance. Sets, reps, weight and the time it takes to do the work. And if the numbers and rate of work are better or worse than the last time.

 

[J_J]

Then you need to quote the 1st part of what I wrote and re read it because it's written in black and white right there bro!

I read the first part and I agreed with it in previous posts. I addressed the part you put in bold because it doesn't relate to measuring intensity in the gym. Its not something you can measure.

 

[J_J]

Always nice to have a pedantic ass onboard.

If your intense you know it. I do run a program during the week but events are not based off of a program. When I am ready to hurl or gasping for breath I know it was an "intense" event .
When you have been doing this for awhile you know your body well enough to know wether or not it has been pushed.

I take "pedantic" as a compliment. Actually, the realm of powerlifting/bodybuilding is pretty pedantic being concerned about lots and lots of minute details and recording different info and stats.

Its always amazed me that so many people will record the details of their food they eat each day, when they eat, the very specific kinds of foods and chemicals they ingest, etc. but then when they get to the gym they don't record the time it takes them to do their work and often don't record their sets, reps and weight so they can compare their performance to the previous time and see if they made progress or not.

They don't do their diet based upon "feel", so why this promotion of training by "feel"?

And you don't necessarily have to push yourself to make an improvement on the last time in order to be gasping for breath and ready to hurl. I've eaten stuff a few hours before just going hard on the treadmill a few times where I felt like I was gonna hurl and was gasping for breath. Not because the work and rate of work I did was so great or so much greater, but more because of how the stuff I ate was reacting in my stomach and making it more difficult for me to function. And that's why I measure my work and the time it takes, so I can actually know for sure if I did better than the last time.

 

[J_J]

Too many people don't know what they are doing and train there asses of up until the day of a meet but a well taught lifter takes a week off of everything and basically does nothing at all no cardio no light lifting nothing and these are the lifter that put up number rather then bomb out 8 out of 10 times.

Great point SFG. Achieving a greater intensity means a need for longer recovery periods before going back to improve on your previous effort. That's why I am now in the gym no more frequently than once per week.

Did you know that when Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile barrier that he took a week off before that race?

 

[SFGiants]

Great point SFG. Achieving a greater intensity means a need for longer recovery periods before going back to improve on your previous effort. That's why I am now in the gym no more frequently than once per week.

Did you know that when Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile barrier that he took a week off before that race?

Had no clue and rest is key as you get weaker without it and it's not your strenght that weakens it's your CNS.

 

[J_J]

Had no clue and rest is key as you get weaker without it and it's not your strenght that weakens it's your CNS.

Your muscles need to replenish their glycogen stores and you only have so much testosterone and other helpful chemicals that your body creates each week. I don't do anything more than a moderate paced walk on the treadmill for the first 3 days after the gym. My recovery ability isn't the best, but I do a lot of work and keep up a high rate of work for close to an hour.

I was looking at the research results from the Nautilus North Study that John Little and the guys up at that gym did using the "BOD-POD" machines to figure out body composition and it was pretty damn amazing. The guys who trained hard with heavy static holds had a loss of @ 2-3 pounds of lean muscle up to 3 days following their workouts before it headed back up and overcompensated to where they were @ 2-4 pounds more lean muscle @ 7 days later. I'm taking it even easier now the first 3 days after the gym and am more comfortable waiting up to 10 days to go back to the gym.

 

[sityslicker1]

I'm not reading anything into it. I am sticking to the original question which is "How do you MEASURE your intensity in the gym?"

If you had a reliable way to measure how you "feel" going into a workout then that would be useful. But how you "feel" is often deceptive. For example, I may not feel like my blood pressure is high, but if I get the test done and its 165/95 then its high despite how I feel. Or I may be convinced that working with half the weight doing dumbbell curls will lead to bigger arms, but when I take a measurement after 6 weeks of doing that and find my arms aren't any bigger or even smaller then how I "feel" they are or should be doesn't affect that.

When it comes to the gym the only thing we can measure is our performance. Sets, reps, weight and the time it takes to do the work. And if the numbers and rate of work are better or worse than the last time.

Please don't change the subject. You ask a subjective question, how do you measure intensity? You got my subjective answer. I did not know this thread was going to turn into how do you rate your performance and progress (which are 2 completely different answers). As far as I'm concerned it looks like your trolling.

 

[YAMAHA147]

I am now in the gym no more frequently than once per week.

You only work out 1 day a week and believe you need 6 days of rest? or did i misinterpret that?

 

[J_J]

You only work out 1 day a week and believe you need 6 days of rest? or did i misinterpret that?

Correct. My intensity in the gym is so high that it takes me at least 5 days to fully recover before I can even think of getting back into the gym to give an effort that results in making progress based upon the actual work done and the time it takes to do the work.

I have a specific goal I want to achieve for EACH time I enter the gym. I don't just go to the gym for the fuck of it to "exercise". I can go for a brisk walk for an hour if I wanna burn a lot of calories and get some "exercise" any day. Yeah, I could go to the gym 5 days a week but that would mean working with much lighter weights, doing less reps, doing a lower rate of work and having smaller and weaker muscles. And I'm drug free accept for some caffeine, so its @ once a week in the gym for me.

 

[J_J]

Please don't change the subject. You ask a subjective question, how do you measure intensity? You got my subjective answer. I did not know this thread was going to turn into how do you rate your performance and progress (which are 2 completely different answers). As far as I'm concerned it looks like your trolling.

What the fuck is "subjective" about asking how something is measured? Do you know what the word "subjective" means?

Intensity is measured in every area the word is used - except among those in the gym who seem to just enjoy throwing the word around. Despite that I've always gotten the impression that those who use the word "intensity" have a more specific meaning in mind than "I'm totally fried" or some goofy slang like that. You could ask someone which workout is more intense of the two workouts and they would have no problem being able to tell you which workout was the more intense one. That's because the word has a concrete meaning in the way it is used. Intensity can't mean anything you want it to mean. Its forever connected to its original meaning and use which is not at all subjective. Not even a little bit.

 

[IronInsanity]

What the fuck is "subjective" about asking how something is measured? Do you know what the word "subjective" means?

Intensity is measured in every area the word is used - except among those in the gym who seem to just enjoy throwing the word around. Despite that I've always gotten the impression that those who use the word "intensity" have a more specific meaning in mind than "I'm totally fried" or some goofy slang like that. You could ask someone which workout is more intense of the two workouts and they would have no problem being able to tell you which workout was the more intense one. That's because the word has a concrete meaning in the way it is used. Intensity can't mean anything you want it to mean. Its forever connected to its original meaning and use which is not at all subjective. Not even a little bit.

sityslicker's physique looks pretty good. Let's see a picture of you JJ.

 

[marx]

Pedantic! Fuckin A!

J_J, you forget in your quest to measure and quantify you are dealing with the action of CRITTERS, not machines. The wealth of variables present leaves one in a spot where the "intensity" rubric is less a pin point measure and more a subjective quantifying of a general state once you leave Iron Insanity's very clear definition.

Have your girlfriend rate your fucking. Was it good, great, how was the intensity?

Interesting conversation here brother, but I say get your happy ass under the weight, blast some HATEBREED and after your warm up sets go for a personal best without a spotter. Do or die. There is intensity!

Some life experiences you can rate and quantify to a degree. But fuck, over intellectualizing and taking the beauty out of performing at your peak, out of giving it your all... Why would you want to do that?

There is poetry and beauty in tearing up the weight, in beating gravity and prevailing over pain to excel. Negating that is wrong, the experience is more than just mechanical gesture. Spirit is involved in intensity, will and inner drive.

So is one day a week at the gym, even for my silverback self LOL. I hope it works for you.