Motivation Monday: Defining Your Workouts with Intensity

"If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you."

Exciting news!  This weekend I became a certified spin instructor!  I attended an 8 hour class where we learned all about how to properly fit someone on a bike, the science behind cycling, the physiology and mechanics behind cycling, proper riding technique, class design, and how to coach throughout a ride.  In typical nerd fashion, I enjoyed every minute of it even though it was a ton of information packed into a relatively short amount of time.  

If you've ever taken a spin class before you know one of the major challenges is figuring out if you're at the right intensity.  Exercise intensity refers to how much energy you are using.  Obviously, the benefit of exercising at higher intensities is you burn more calories.  In spin you increase the intensity of your workout by either pedaling faster or increasing the resistance on the bike.  The job of the instructor is to describe to you the pedal speed, the intensity you should be working at, and how that feels so you know how to adjust the resistance in order to meet that intensity level.    

Intensity is something everyone should be thinking about during their workout and when establishing workout goals.  Just like in cycling you can change the intensity of your workout by increasing your speed, increasing the weights, changing the incline, etc.  You can use several different methods to define intensity, but one of the easiest ways is to think of it is on a scale of four different levels.

• Easy: light; warmup and recovery (you can easily talk)- about 5-6/10 
• Moderate: Challenging, but comfortable; training pace (you can talk but may have to pause between words to catch your breath)- ~7-8/10
• Hard: Challenging, uncomfortable; racing pace (difficulty speaking, nearing breathless)- ~9/10
• Anaerobic: Not max, but breathless

Hint- if you're smiling like this you're probably not at a hard/anaerobic intensity

Continuously evaluating your effort throughout your workouts is something that is challenging to remember when you're not in a group fitness class or if your instructor is not cueing you correctly.  However, simply stopping to ask yourself- how hard am I working?  Could I be working harder right now?- will allow you to reap a much greater benefit from your workout.  Before you begin your workout take a moment to think about what intensity you will be working at.  Establish a baseline by thinking about how you feel during your warmup.  Keep in mind higher intensities are harder to work at for an extended time.  Ideally your workout will involve working at all intensities for some period of time.  You can decide how hard you want your workout to be that day and how long you want to stay at those high intensities.

The fun part about monitoring your intensity during your workouts is, as you continue to train, you will notice that your ability to work at different intensities will improve.  The speed you struggled to hold for 1 minute intervals will become the speed you run at during your recovery intervals.

Finally, here are some of my favorite fitness mantra/motivational quotes.  Try saying them to yourself when you're working at those higher intensities to help pull yourself through.  Happy Monday!

I Refuse to Lose.

Strive for progress, not perfection.

You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.

Be better than you were yesterday.

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

It never gets easier, just better.

It's hard to beat a person that never gives up. (Babe Ruth)

Strong.  Focused.  Determined.

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