M6:D21 (D499) Keys to Growth: Intensity

To me, the first key to growth is intensity.  Intensity is not just about how hard you work.  Intensity is about doing every repetition you have in you.  Intensity is about taking the set to failure.  Intensity is about overcoming the mental block that prevents most people from truly going to failure.  That’s right, most people quit before they hit failure because their mind tells them they are done.

Intensity means you have to overcome your natural tendency to quit too soon.  You have to make the muscle work extremely hard to get the results you want.  I personally believe that doing many, many sets of an exercise is counter-productive.  Why?  The answer is simple.

When you do many, many sets of an exercise you cannot possibly give everything you have to each set.  When you do every repetition you have in you on the first set, that’s all you can do.  The higher volume can easily lead to over training, something we all must avoid if we are going to grow. 

Instead of increasing the volume by adding a ton of sets, simply increase the intensity with which you workout.  Go to failure on every set.  Pay attention to the High Intensity Training principles because they are deceptive.  At first glance it appears that you are not working each muscle group very hard, but you are working each muscle group many times during a workout.  You are mimicking the higher volume workout, but you are avoiding over training by simply pushing the muscle to failure and not beyond.