5 Ways To Increase the Intensity of your Workout

As summer fast approaches, many of you are asking “how do I increase the intensity of my workouts?” Today, I am going to share five of my favorite strategies to increase the intensity of your workouts to create your summer body

(1) Shorten the rest intervals between your sets.

There are two major benefits to decreasing you rest intervals to between 20-30 seconds between sets.

• Shorter rest periods allows you to complete more work in your allocated workout time thus increasing work volume. Studies have shown that high volume, short rest period training increases human growth hormone levels as compared to the same training with longer rest periods.
• Shorter rest periods keep your heart rate elevated which will help you burn more calories during your workout aiding in fat loss.

 
​(2) Perform Super Sets and Giant Sets.

A super set is combining two or three exercises in a sequence back to back with no rest in between.
An example of a super set is performing flat bench press followed immediately by flat dumbbell flyes.

A giant set is essentially performing bigger supersets- at least four exercises performed in consecutive order without any rest in between.
An example of a giant set is dumbbell lateral raise, overhead dumbbell shoulder press, front plate raise, and bent over dumbbell rear deltoid raise.

Super sets and giant sets help improve cardiovascular and muscular endurance. They are also both very effective in burning calories and in building muscle which equates to assisting with fat loss. 

(3) Slow-Fast Reps

This is a very intense way to execute an exercise movement. To perform slow-fast reps- pick an exercise and do the following: Perform 3 reps at a super slow pace with constant tension on the muscle followed immediately by 5 reps at a very high tempo. Perform this 3 times for a total of 24 total reps- this is one set. Perform 3-4 sets. This method increases time under tension, essentially the amount of time a muscle is working during a set.
 
(4) Rest-Pause

The fourth method to increase the intensity of your workouts is the rest-pause method. This method of training is intended to allow you to use a heavy weight at a higher volume. Pick a weight that you can perform a maximum of 4-5 reps. Perform this exercise with the prescribed weight for 4-5 reps, rest 10-15 seconds, and perform another 4-5 reps. This is considered one set. Perform 2-3 sets using this rest-pause method.

(5) Drop Sets

​The technique of drop sets is to select a weight you can perform 6-10 times, then immediately drop the weight 30-50% and lift to technical failure.  This is considered one set. Repeat this for 3-4 sets. The key to performing these correctly is to have as little rest as possible between the heavy and light sets. This makes stacked weights and dumbbells ideal for this type of training. This method can improve muscle mass, muscle strength, and muscle endurance.
 
Now you have 5 new training strategies that you can incorporate into your daily workouts to increase your training intensity. I’m hoping you will utilize these 5 methods to take your fitness to a whole new level of intensity. As always, please consult your physician prior to starting a new workout regimen. If you have any questions, please reach out to any of our personal trainers who are ready and eager to help you on your path to health and fitness.
 
In Health,
Brian Cavanaugh