In resistance training, the amount of weight used during a particular exercise correlates with intensity, and in sports science research and athletic training programs, intensity is often expressed as a percentage of 1-rep maximum (1RM). That’s the maximum amount of weight that can be lifted during a particular exercise, with good form, for only one repetition. Once 1RM has been determined, a percentage of that maximal weight is prescribed for each exercise in a session. For example, an athlete’s program might call for four sets of bench press at 80% of 1RM.

Some studies have found that resistance as low as 45% of 1RM can be beneficial for increasing strength in the early stages of training,¹ but that level of resistance is unlikely to be effective after the first few weeks. To make meaningful, ongoing gains in strength and muscle size, beginners (people with little or no resistance training experience) should be lifting at least 60-70% of their 1RM. Experienced lifters (who have at least 6-12 months of weight training experience) should be lifting at least 70-80% of their 1RM.²

Lifters Go Too Light

A few research studies have tested whether the average person chooses weights that meet these guidelines for resistance training.

• Glass and Stanton³ had 13 men and 17 women with no resistance training experience choose their own resistance for five different exercises: bench press, leg press, seated row, shoulder press, and bicep curl. They were allowed to perform as many repetitions as they wanted, with the instruction that they should “choose a load that you feel will be suf?cient to improve your muscular strength”. The participants selected weights that were an average of 42-57% of their 1RM, and performed between 10 and 25 repetitions, depending on the exercise.
• Focht⁴ had 19 women with no resistance training experience choose their own resistance to perform 10 reps on the chest press, leg extension, lat pulldown, and shoulder press. Those participants selected weights that were an average of 56% of their 1RM.

The average participant in each of these studies chose resistance that was too light to make significant, ongoing improvements in strength or hypertrophy. These findings aren’t exactly surprising. The participants in these studies had no resistance training experience, and developing the ability to select appropriate resistance and to push yourself in the gym takes time and practice. I would hope that with some training experience and guidance, people would learn to select appropriate resistance for their goals. Unfortunately, two other studies indicate that that’s not necessarily the case.

• Ratamess et al.⁵ recruited 46 women who had been resistance training for at least three months. One group of these women had been training with a personal trainer for at least the previous three months, and the other group had been training on their own. The average length of time that the personal training participants had been working with a trainer was 15 months. The average total resistance training experience for the personal training group was 4 years, while the average total resistance training experience for the non-personal training group was 4.5 years. Each participant was asked to choose a resistance that they would normally use for 10 repetitions. Four exercises were tested, all of which were machine-based. They included the chest press, leg press, seated row, and leg extension. In the non-personal training group, average chosen resistance was 38-48% of 1RM, and in the personal training group, average resistance was 43-57% of 1RM, depending on the exercise.
• Dias et al.⁶ recruited 12 men and nine women with at least 12 months of resistance training experience. One group of participants had been training with a personal trainer for at least two days per week for the previous six months, and the other group had been training on their own for at least six months prior to the study. Each participant was instructed to choose a resistance that they would typically use in their own workout for 10 reps on the leg press, bench press, leg extension, and bicep curl. The non-personal training group selected resistance that was 42-61% of their 1RM, and the personal training group selected resistance that was 48-62% of their 1RM, depending on the exercise.

In both studies, participants expressed that their goals were to increase strength, hypertrophy, or “muscle tone,” but the average participant, regardless of whether they had been training with a personal trainer, didn’t select heavy enough resistance to achieve those goals, considering their training experience. The authors of both studies reported that their participants were “surprised” or “astonished” at how much weight they were able to lift during the 1RM tests, and that most of the participants had never trained at an intensity close to those values.

Trainers Help, But Some Fall Short

Both studies reported that personal training did confer benefits. The personal training participants’ 1RMs were greater (11-16% and 6-26% greater in the Ratamess and Dias studies, respectively), and they selected relatively heavier resistance, on average, than the non-personal training participants.

Still, these findings are disheartening. It is disappointing that some of these study participants had been working with a trainer for years, and yet were unable to select appropriate resistance to meet their goals, and even reported afterwards that they had never lifted weights close enough to their 1RM to prompt ongoing strength or muscle gains.

A trainer’s job is to help their clients get the results they want, to educate them on how to train effectively, and to provide support and motivation. While there are many incredible trainers out there doing a great job every day, these studies seem to show that some trainers don’t live up to those expectations.

Muscles Don’t Tone

There’s a lot of readily available misinformation about fitness, and some people seem determined to believe that misinformation and train in ways which may not be appropriate for their goals. Some people have a misunderstanding of resistance training and many, especially women, may be hesitant to lift heavy weights. If they aren’t interested in increasing strength or size, low-to-moderate resistance may be appropriate. But often, people don’t want to lift heavy weights, and yet they want to get stronger, increase muscle size, or get “toned.”

A quick note about “muscle toning.” It doesn’t exist. This myth has been plaguing fitness professionals for too long, and it’s time we dispel it once and for all. Muscles don’t get toned, they don’t get longer or leaner. They get bigger, smaller, or stay the same size. That’s it.

People, especially women, who want “toning” are often referring to a lean and muscular physique without excessive muscle mass. That look is achieved by increasing muscle size and decreasing bodyfat. You do that with heavy resistance training and high intensity cardio. Lifting heavy weights will give them the physique they want, while lifting weights that are too light will likely do nothing but waste their time.

It can be hard to convince people to train heavy when many magazines and popular fitness blogs are telling them that they can “tone” their triceps by doing kickbacks with a soup can. But that’s part of a fitness professional’s job, and it’s in our clients’ best interests to do so.

Get to Know Your Heavy

If your goal is to increase strength or build muscle, it’s important to find a trainer that will educate you about effective resistance training and encourage you to progress to heavy lifting. For lifters, it’s important to keep in mind that you will eventually have to lift heavy weights to increase strength or muscle.

Here’s the important point: heavy is relative. It’s not about the weight; it’s about the effort. Heavy means a resistance that is challenging for the individual on that particular exercise and in their chosen repetition range. Heavy for a competitive powerlifter and heavy for a 40-year-old woman who has been lifting for two months are two completely different things. For that woman, squatting an empty bar for eight reps may be heavy, and performing full-depth bodyweight squats for 12 reps may also be heavy. As long as she’s consistently challenging her muscles and increasing the resistance over time, she will get stronger.

It’s also important that people learn how to recognize what appropriate resistance feels like. A good way to do that is to incorporate ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) into your training. A simple 1-10 scale can be used to measure RPE. The use of RPE to choose resistance training intensity within sessions has gained popularity recently as a form of autoregulation, which is a great way to structure advanced training programs.

That use of RPE isn’t good for novice lifters, however, since they haven’t yet developed the ability to accurately interpret their level of effort.⁷ Instead of using RPE to adjust resistance on the fly, they should record their RPE after each set for comparison later, to get used to thinking about the weights they’re lifting and their level of effort. Over time, they will develop the important ability to recognize what heavy weight feels like, how heavy a weight is relative to their lifting ability, and how to regulate their own effort. That ability usually develops naturally with practice, but the process can be expedited using RPE.

Progress Slowly, But Keep Progressing

Incorporating gradual progressions is another essential aspect of promoting heavy resistance training. Building confidence and competency with relatively light weights or easy exercise variations and gradually increasing the resistance is a good way to alleviate new lifters’ concerns about heavy weights. Instruction in proper form from a quality trainer and the mental and physical safety net provided by a good spotter is also important in helping to build the confidence to start lifting heavier.

Trainers and lifters alike need to be aware of the common barriers to achieving results. If you are working to improve your fitness and reach aesthetic or performance goals, you aren’t going to get very far without lifting heavy.

References:

1. Anderson, Tim, and Jay T. Kearney. “Effects of three resistance training programs on muscular strength and absolute and relative endurance.” Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 53, no. 1 (1982): 1-7.

2. Kraemer, William J., and Nicholas A. Ratamess. “Fundamentals of resistance training: progression and exercise prescription.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise 36, no. 4 (2004): 674-688.

3. Glass, Stephen C., and Douglas R. Stanton. “Self-selected resistance training intensity in novice weightlifters.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 18, no. 2 (2004): 324-327.

4. Focht, Brian C. “Perceived exertion and training load during self-selected and imposed-intensity resistance exercise in untrained women.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 21, no. 1 (2007): 183-187.

5. Ratamess, Nicholas A., Avery D. Faigenbaum, Jay R. Hoffman, and Jie Kang. “Self-selected resistance training intensity in healthy women: the influence of a personal trainer.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 22, no. 1 (2008): 103-111.

6. Dias, Marcelo RC, Roberto Simao, Francisco JF Saavedra, and Nicholas A. Ratamess. “The Influence of a Personal Trainer on Self-Selected Loading during Resistance Exercise.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (2016). DOI: 10.1519/JSC.000000000000166

7. Testa, Marc, Timothy D. Noakes, and FranÇois-Denis Desgorces. “Training state improves the relationship between rating of perceived exertion and relative exercise volume during resistance exercises.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 26, no. 11 (2012): 2990-2996.

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High intensity training (HIT) has received a lot of negative reviews over the years. It’s confounding because one of the cornerstones of any viable training program is overloading the body’s systems (muscular, cardiovascular) to coax it to a higher level. To create that overload, a trainee must go above and beyond their existing level by training with effort.

Come on, admit it. You’ve been there and so have I. When was the last time you trained half-assed and obtained solid results? Unless freakish genetics are involved, it didn’t happen. The average person needs to bust their ass to become stronger, grow muscle, and lose fat. Intensity of training effort must be part of the equation, and the greater it is, the greater your chance of getting results (all other factors being equal).

The Many Faces of High Intensity

Mention HIT to an old-timer, and the name Arthur Jones usually pops up. Jones was the founder of Nautilus Sports Medical Industries, and one of the earliest advocates of brief and demanding training to become stronger and grow muscle. If you know nothing about the man, I recommend you at least read his Bulletin #1.

In the strength training world, many still believe in Jones’s “one set to momentary muscular fatigue for 8-12 repetitions.” That is one example of HIT, and it works, but there are many other ways to implement demanding, brief training. All-out effort with any device (a barbell, dumbbells, or a machine) performed safely and with a reasonable amount of training volume (one to four sets) and performed in a reasonable amount of time (no more than one hour) can be considered HIT.

Then there is the crowd that considers intensity as relative to one’s 1RM. An example would be 85-100% of the 1RM being high intensity, 70-84% being moderate intensity, and 55-69% percent being low intensity. But here lies the problem: how many repetitions are these loads lifted?

If you gave me the option of either walking or crawling out of the gym after leg pressing either 95% or 65% of my 1RM for a maximum number of repetitions to the point of momentary muscular fatigue, the latter option would most likely create the crawling situation. The 65% load would create more time under tension and work a larger overall proportion of muscle fibers, ultimately creating a greater demand on the muscle structures. So using a very heavy resistance (95%) may or may not be high intensity in nature, depending on the number of reps performed. The same can be said for a lighter resistance (65%). If performed for an all-out, maximum rep effort, it would be high intensity regardless of what percentage of a 1RM it is.

While I’m on the topic, I need to mention high intensity interval training (HIIT) as well. It also has become popular in recent years, especially for those seeking a time-efficient means of developing cardiovascular endurance, or a more effective option to burn additional calories than traditional steady-state cardio. Like HIT in the weight room, HIIT can be performed via demanding interval runs over ground, or on an exercise device, or with boot camp style workouts. There are many effective methods for placing a huge demand on the body’s cardiovascular system. 

Intensity Trumps Mindless Volume

What do you think the number one priority should be in any sensible training program?

• More exercises or drills in a single session
• More sets, reps, or repeats of the aforementioned exercises and drills
• More training sessions per week
• More weeks in the training plan

Training plans must be logically structured in terms of exercises, session volume, the number of sessions per week, and the length of the overall training period. But number one on the list should be selecting variables that will create changes in the body. To accomplish that, intensity of effort is the starting point. 

Without a high level of training intensity, little can be gleaned from any amount of training. Quality supersedes quantity; more is not necessarily better. If that was not the case, rather than perform eight exercises for two sets each, we could just double it to 16 exercises and 32 total sets, and make twice the progress. What they heck, quadruple the volume and perform 64 sets! More is better, right? You get the idea.

Your entire training plan should be structured around the high level of effort required to create changes in your body. If you work at a high level, you will not be able to do so in high volume.

Why You Need More Intensity

Rather than performing an arbitrary number of low-effort exercises and drills in the hopes that somewhere in that endeavor the “switch will be flipped on,” focus on fewer, high-effort bouts. 

If for no other reason, you should up the intensity because it’s more time efficient. You have a full-time job, a family, academic commitments, errands to run, time required for grocery shopping, eating, sleeping, personal care, or whatever. Spend a quality 45 minutes at the gym, or half-ass it for 90 minutes? Do the math.

HIT can make your training more easily measurable and documentable. The more volume you do (the number of exercises, drills, sets, reps, runs, training days, etc.), the more difficult it will be to track progress and account for exactly at what point proper overload occurred. At that point, should you not cut it off? When the stimulus for overload has been reached (i.e., three sets or eight runs), why continue to do more (i.e., three additional sets or five more runs)?

HIT is also the most effective way to strike at the foundation of any successful training plan: overload creates adaptation, which creates progression. Over the long haul, it actually helps you to better recover from training sessions and creates less wear and tear on your body. Compare these two 10-week programs:

High Volume Program:

• Strength: 10 exercises x 5 sets each x 4 days per week
• Cardio: 14 x 200m interval runs on day one, 25 x 75m shuttle drills on day two
• Agility: 6 drills x 8 rounds each, two days per week

Over the 10 weeks, your body would have to deal with this:

• 2,000 strength training reps
• 140 interval runs
• 250 shuttle drills
• 960 agility drill reps

Low Volume Program:

• Strength: 8 exercises x 3 sets each x 2 days per week
• Cardio: 8 x 200m interval runs day one, 12 x 75m shuttle drills on day two
• Agility: 5 drills x 8 rounds each, one day per week

Over the 10 weeks, your body would only have to deal with this:

• 480 strength training reps
• 80 interval runs
• 120 shuttle drills
• 400 agility drill reps

Can you not gain results with 480 strength sets, 80 intervals, 120 shuttles, and 400 agility reps over a 10-week period? Of course you can, as you’ll better be able to factor in valuable recovery time to reap the benefits of your hard, switch-flipping efforts.

It Works If You Work

The only risk of engaging in abbreviated training is that if you don’t commit to work hard, you’ll accrue subpar results. In the moment, training for shorter sessions at higher intensity is more physically demanding. Learn to enjoy the temporary spike in physical discomfort, knowing you’re doing it properly and not mindlessly churning out set after set or run after run.

There are so many ways you can incorporate HIT (and HIIT) in a training program. Think quality over quantity, scale it back, focus on brief but demanding exercise bouts that are more easily documented to track your progress. You’ll be able to focus more on quality efforts, have more recovery time, realize better gains, and be able to spend time on other important tasks.

Always remember the greater your intensity of training effort, the greater your probability of achieving better physical improvement.

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Let’s begin with Merriam-Webster’s definitions of the word intensity:

• The quality or state of being intense. Especially, the extreme degree of strength, force, energy, or feeling.
• The magnitude of a quantity – as force or energy – per unit (as of area, charge, mass, or time).

​

Implications of the Definition of Intensity

Two thoughts can be gleaned from the above definitions. For one, it suggests intensity relates to effort exuded to perform a task. This could mean two things regarding strength training:

1. Extreme effort put forth in an exercise set independent of the amount of resistance used and the number of repetitions (reps) desired.
2. Whether low reps/heavy resistance or high reps/light (relative) resistance is required, intensity would be defined by the effort required to complete the specific task.

Either way, going all-out would mean 100% intensity was procured. But regarding force, it can be implied that the higher the force output required the higher the intensity. Likewise, the lower force output required the lower the intensity.

Secondly, Merriam-Webster’s definition suggests a quantity or amount. A greater amount equals high intensity and a lesser amount equals lower intensity.

RELATED: How to Adjust Sets and Reps to Fit Your Training Goal

In most strength training programs, “X” amount of resistance is lifted for “Y” number of repetitions. Therefore, lifting 93% of a 1RM for two reps would be highly intense due to the magnitude of the resistance and greater immediate force required. On the other hand, lifting 65% of a 1RM for two reps would be less intense. That is pure common sense, but who only lifts 65% of a 1RM for two reps?

Resistance Training Should Be Demanding

To grow muscle, get stronger, improve power output, or shed fat, no one can argue that resistance training should not be demanding. For the love of Henry “Milo” Steinborn who proved years ago that it should be challenging, take a look at these undisputable facts:

• High, medium, and low intensity efforts – and using various percentages of a 1RM for a specific number or repetitions – are all subjective relative to specific outcomes.
• Too many combinations of load and effort expended to move resistance in the endeavor to only get stronger, only improve power, or only enhance endurance makes it impractical to categorize workout loads and specific reps as strength-only, power-only, or endurance-only.

So, where do you draw the line between the three? If you understand the science behind all this then you know what I am talking about. If not, it can actually be embarrassing when you finally understand reality. If you’re still confused, go read the proven research on this topic.

“To grow muscle, get stronger, improve power output, or shed fat, no one can argue that resistance training should not be demanding.”

The Role of Volitional Muscle Fatigue

Pushing or pulling against a relatively heavy resistance with maximum effort (dynamic reps or a static contraction) to the point of volitional muscle fatigue creates an overload on muscle tissue. Do this progressively over time and you get stronger and gain muscular endurance.

Likewise, pushing or pulling against a relatively light resistance (such as 60% of a 1RM which is 60% greater than no resistance at all), and doing so with maximum effort (again, using dynamic reps or a static contraction) to the point of volitional muscle fatigue also creates an overload on muscle tissue. Do this progressively over time and again you get stronger and improve muscular endurance.

RELATED: Video: Understanding Overloading, Overreaching, and Overtraining

Based on that, the greater your intensity of effort, the greater your potential to gain strength and muscular endurance, independent of load amount. The greater the load, the fewer number of reps attainable. The lesser the load, the greater number of reps possible provided the set is performed to the point of volitional muscle fatigue. Going all-out makes it objective.

Intensity Relative to a Percentage of One Rep Max

Look at this issue from the traditional definition of intensity relative to a percentage of a 1RM used in most set/repetition scripts:

• Training with 90-100 % of a 1RM would be considered high intensity. Doing this would mean many muscle fibers are recruited to complete the task. In reality, though, a minimal number of fibers are actually overloaded in the process. The higher threshold and faster-to-fatigue muscle fibers are recruited to complete the task, but there are a ton of lower threshold and slower-to-fatigue fibers that are not overloaded.
• Training with 60-70% of a 1RM would be considered low intensity in accordance to the traditional percentage system verbiage. In this scenario, only the lower threshold and slower to fatigue fibers would theoretically be recruited. At the outset of the set, this is true. But if the exercise set is taken to the point of muscle fatigue via maximum reps, then a large percentage of available muscle fibers will be recruited and overloaded, albeit with the use of a relatively lighter resistance (see Henneman’s Principle).
• Training between 75-85% would be considered medium (or medium-high?) intensity.This is where the reality of the percentage system is exposed. Where do you draw the line between the subjective nature of intensity levels? We discovered a cure for polio in 1952, Jack Kilby invented the first microchip in 1958, we put a man on the moon in 1969, and Coke Zero was first marketed in 2005. Yet, we cannot come to a consensus on training intensity as our society continues to erode toward obesity and poor health.
• Training with 95% of a 1RM would be considered high intensity. Yes, it would be intense due to the maximal effort required in the short (time-wise) exertion. Absolutely difficult, few reps performed, and a large number of muscle fibers are recruited, but fewer relative muscle fibers are actually overloaded.

If maximum intensity was solely based on the percentage system to accrue optimal development, then should not all sets be performed with 100% of a 1RM? After all, that is the epitome of the percentage of 1RM training. Perform set after set with the heaviest load possible and, of course, you would elicit an adaptation. But is it prudent to do that?

Less Load Can Mean Better Muscle Fiber Recruitment

What would occur if you lowered the intensity to 90%, 82%, 75%, or 60% of a 1RM? Would you then be selling out to a lesser potential gains? Based on convoluted modern thought, these resistances would be ineffective for developing specific qualities.

Take it down to the aforementioned 90% of a 1RM – still considered high intensity within the confines of conventional wisdom. With 90% of a 1RM, more reps are possible as compared to 100% of a 1RM. With 90%, you get four reps as opposed to one. In this case, more time is spent recruiting and fatiguing muscle tissue. There is an upside to sub-100% 1RM loads – more time under tension and a greater potential to recruit and overload a greater number of working muscle fibers.

“Believe it or not, lesser 1RM loads have the potential to recruit and overload a greater relative number of muscle fibers as compared to the end of the continuum, the 1RM for one rep.”

Take it down even further to the low intensity of 65% of a 1RM. Depending upon the exercise and rep cadence, performing a maximum number of reps with 65% could create fatigue at fifteen, nineteen, 24, or whatever number of reps. Believe it or not, lesser 1RM loads have the potential to recruit and overload a greater relative number of muscle fibers as compared to the end of the continuum, the 1RM for one rep.

Think about it. In accordance to how humans recruit muscle based on the task at hand, working with 65% of a 1RM – which is 65% greater than no resistance at all – a significant number of muscle fibers are initially recruited (again, 65% vs. o% of a 1RM). If the resistance is lifted for a maximum number of reps as opposed to one, a large pool of fibers are recruited and stressed. As work progresses, muscle fibers fatigue, more are recruited to complete the task, and there is a greater time under tension. This guarantees more fibers are used across the spectrum of the load/recruitment schematics.

The Take-Home

• Training intensity should be defined as the effort put forth to complete a set, independent of the load (% of a 1RM) used.
• Training load should be defined as the amount of resistance used in a set, independent of the effort expended.
• Going all-out with a heavy load (88% of a 1RM) and completing five reps would be high intensity of effort. Only performing one rep with 88% would not be high intensity.
• Going all-out with a lighter load (65% of a 1RM) and completing seventeen reps to volitional muscle fatigue would be high intensity. Only performing eight reps with 65% would not be high intensity.
• Many set/rep/load protocols work provided you work hard. Regardless of the load used, going all-out is measurable and maximally recruits muscle fibers and improves your pursuit of increasing strength, power, and muscle endurance.

References:

1. Bass, C. “Forget Heavy, Think EFfort. Muscle Fiber Activation and Rep Range.” Ripped Enterprises. 2009.

2. Carpinelli, R. “The Size Principle and a Critical Analysis of the Unsubstantialted Heavier-Is-Better Recommendation for Resistance Training.” J Exerc Sci Fit. Vol 6, No 2, 67–86. 2008

Photos courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

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