I was reminded of an acronym this week which fits my postings. The acronym is “FITT”:
F – Frequency
I – Intensity
T - Time
T – Type
I have discussed some of this already, frequency, and time. So let’s get into intensity. What is intensity? Here is the dictionary response:1. Exceptionally great concentration, power, or force. 2. Physics The amount or degree of strength of electricity, light, heat, or sound per unit area or volume.
When you are talking about in the gym some people will say the person who makes a lot of noise lifting is intense. Are they? Or are they looking for attention? I believe it has to do with 2 things focus and results. “Focus” Is you workout a social gathering? Do you have a no nonsense in and out approach? I’ve know the combination of the two, you know laughing joking but when they get under the bar it’s all business, they get tunnel vision. All they see is the weight and how many reps they want. Reminds me of Laurence Fishburne’s character in “Biker Boyz”. That’s focus having a goal and going for it! “Results” This is simple or is it? It can be measured weekly, monthly, how about that day? Hey you might want to go into your workout set a PB [personal best] in the squat but couldn’t. Why? Work, the kids, school, not feeling well, or whatever. The thing is you got to your workout, look into the mirror did you give it the absolute best you could do that day? The only person you have to impress is in that mirror! How do you feel? Do you feel good? That results. Put those 2 together and you get intensity.
I’ll discuss 2 types this week, easy ones, ones most will know.
Forced reps, getting just enough assistance from your partner to get one or two extra reps in a set. This means they only help enough to keep the weight moving. They should be getting an arm workout, for example, assisting you on the bench.What if you train alone?
Drop sets [Break downs], this is one of my favorites. It is simple using the bench for example, do as much reps at a given weight, then stop, strip some weight off [ I usually set the bar up so I can take around 20%- 25% off the bar] then finish the set. You can also go from barbell to dumbbell or kettlebells.
A note on these, they should be done on the last set. If you do them on all your sets it’ll take longer to recover, or worse, tear something.
Good luck this week! Set some goals and go for them.
Feel free to send comments or questions!
Tom LaMonica
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