In the fitness world, Intensity is described as how hard you push yourself in a given workout.
To illustrate this point, imagine picking up your groceries and casually walking them from the car to your house. Not too difficult right? We would say that the intensity is low with this activity.
Now imagine I said carry your groceries over your head as you run to your house. The intensity is much higher.
But is one necessarily better than the other? It depends on you and your goals.
Intensity in CrossFit
Maybe you discovered CrossFit after watching the CrossFit Games on ESPN or YouTube.
You see these massive men and strong women running, throwing weights around, flipping upside down. You think, “I could NEVER do that!”.
Well, before you write CrossFit off as not for you, let’s talk about the “secret” of CrossFit: variable intensity.
What makes CrossFit such a powerful fitness regime for the elite athletes as well as for the person who has never been in the gym before is this.
Intensity at HCCF
There are three ways we control intensity:
First, selecting the type of movement can vary the intensity.
Second, the amount of weight we use for that movement.
Third, as in our grocery example, how fast we attempt to accomplish the workout will have an affect on the intensity.
At Holy City Fitness, we believe intensity is relative to you, not others.
We take into account your goals and what you are trying to get out of your training.
Regardless of whether you are a collegiate athlete or a mom of three, we want to help make the workout the right intensity, for you and your goals.
As you become more consistent in your movements, you start to gradually increase the intensity. This results in continuing to see results versus plateauing.
Want to learn more about Level Method? Check out this post.