We are almost at the end of two weeks for the challenge. By now you should have established a habit of working out regularly and eating clean foods regularly. At this point we need to kick things into higher gear. It is time to work harder than you have ever worked before. Today you are going to assess your weight and cardio training and make some intensity adjustments.
Upping the Intensity of Your Weight Training
Up to this point you should be training with weights about 3 times a week, completing 1 to 2 sets per exercise. Today we will make some changes so that the intensity of your weight training sessions goes up. Try one or more of the following to increase your weight training intensity.
- More sets. Doing more sets increases the total volume of your workout. A higher volume means a higher intensity.
- More repetitions. Doing more repetitions increases the total volume of your workout. Like increasing sets, this means a more intense workout.
- Reduce the rest period. By cutting the rest time in between sets you naturally get a higher intensity workout.
- Take a set to complete failure. With each exercise, take the final set to complete failure. This means the point at which you can no longer complete a repetition with good form.
The above items will help to increase the intensity of your weight training workout.
Upping the Intensity of Your Cardio Training
At this point you should be doing cardio 4 days per week. We are going to increase the intensity of that cardio. We want to make sure your body is not adapting to the cardio program you have been on. To increase the intensity of your cardio workouts try one or more of the following.
- Add HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Add one additional HIIT session to your week. It takes the place of one of your steady state sessions.
- Attempt to go further. If you usually walk 1 mile in 15 minutes, attempt to go a little bit further in the same amount of time.
- Extend your HIIT sessions. If you are doing 20 minute HIIT sessions, increase the time to 25 or even 30 minutes.
- Add Tabata sessions. We discussed Tabata early on in this challenge. Add a Tabata session after one of your weight training sessions to up the cardio intensity.
Extra intensity in both cardio training and weight training is going to cause a boost in your overall results. Enjoy the new intensity levels!
