Getting results from your training is strongly related to the intensity at which you train. If you don’t engage your exercise program with the appropriate intensity you are missing out on the progress you could be achieving. Even with the best training program and the most productive exercises, if you don’t challenge yourself you aren’t likely to see significant results.


High intensity training requires a certain mental toughness, effort, and a willingness to get out of your comfort zone. The video below demonstrates 4 methods of increasing the intensity in your workouts using a technique called “set-extension”, which means you will employ these methods at the end of a set, once you have already reached momentary muscular fatigue.

These four methods are:

1) Drop Sets- Reduce the weight used and perform several more repetitions using the lighter weight, until you reach fatigue a second time. This technique is great for exercises where you can quickly reduce the weight used, such as on selectorized weight machines, or using dumbbells.

2) Negatives- Once you can no longer perform the concentric (“positive”) portion of the lift, get assistance bringing the resistance back to the ‘start’ position, and then slowly lower the resistance on your own, performing the eccentric (“negative”) portion of the lift under tension. This technique usually requires a spotter to perform the concentric portion of the lift. Be careful when performing negatives, as it is an extremely taxing training method.

3) Rest-Pause – After reaching fatigue at the end of a set, rest only 15 seconds, then perform a few more reps. The nice thing about this HITT method is that it is simple to implement, and can be used on almost any exercise.

4) Partials- Once you can no longer perform a full range of motion in any given exercise, continue to perform several partial range repetitions, within your stronger range of motion (ie: the top ‘lockout’ portion of a squat or bench press).

Other effective high intensity training techniques include super-setting, pre-exhaust, and giant-sets. If you have hit a plateau in your training, or are looking for a way to take your progress to the next level, these training methods can help you reach your goals! Just keep in mind that due to the challenging nature of this type of training, these techniques should be used sparingly, and extra attention should be given to recovery.

In the end, it really depends on how hard you push yourself. You get out of life what you put into it. Are you ready to bring the intensity?

Stay fit,

Josh