I’m very fortunate that I have a fair number of coaches and other fitness professionals who see this site as a resource of quality information as well as a resource to help get their information and content in front of more eyes.
I had a bounty of excellent professionals pinch-hitting for me in 2016, and the three articles below were the top ones according to the traffic they received.
NOTE: Once January 27, 2017 arrives I’ll be in dire need for guests posts. That’s the day my little guy is supposed to arrive and my world is going to be turned upside down. In a good way of course…;O) I suspect my writing schedule will be drastically reduced, however I’d still love to continue offering top-notch content on a consistent basis.
If you’re interested please use the Contact function HERE and pitch me some ideas. A few criteria to consider:
1) You should be able to, you know, write well. On a base level you should be able to differentiate between to/too/two, their/there/they’re, your/you’re, then/than, and have read every book Kurt Vonnegut has ever written. Kidding.[footnote]Or am I?[/footnote]
2) Preferably you actually have experience training people in real life. And, I’d prefer minimum two years experience in the field.
3) Have some “feel” for the type of content on this site. If you pitch me an article on fat-loss supplements or “Top Exercises to Tone Your Arms” I will Sparta kick you you in the throat.
This article actually made the PTDC’s list of Top Articles of 2016 on their site (you can check out their list HERE). People have been programmed to think that exercise intensity is all about performing endless repetitions of whateverthefuck and then dropping in a pool of your own sweat or going until you can’t feel your legs.
Sure, it’s hard, and it has it’s time and place. But it’s not, technically, “intense.”
Ohhhhhhhhh snap. Not surprisingly this article received a fair bit of back and forth in the comments section. I get it: I think much of what was argued about was over semantics over the word “elite.” Nevertheless, I felt this was a good article by Travis who brought up some valid points.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of strength coach, nutritionist, and researcher, Mike Sheridan. Mike’s written for this site before. His article Is Running Natural? was a big hit and sparked some friendly debate.
This time around he cracks the whip on what the term “intensity” really means.
Enjoy!
Intensity = Lift More Weight NOT Lift Weight More
Other than the word functional, ‘intensity’ is one of the most misunderstood terms in fitness.The reason you’re picturing a sweaty out-of-breath person ready to run to the bathroom and puke at any moment, is because we’ve been taught to associate intensity with exhaustion…
…and insanity!
The actual definition of intensity is pushing your muscles to their maximum capacity within the designated training variables.Which means choosing a weight that’s optimal for the given rep range (not too light or heavy) and executing the movement with the proper form and tempo.
For example:
Sets
Reps
Tempo
DB Bench Press
4
6 – 8
3010
Note: the numbers “3010” underneath tempo do actually mean something.
3 = 3s lowering
0 = no pause
1 = 1s explosive concentric/overcoming movement
0 = no pause
If the form and tempo is not there, the weight is too heavy, or exercise choice too challenging.Prompting the trainee to lower the load, or regress to an easier variation of the movement.
Conversely, if the form and tempo are clean, and the trainee is not challenged on the last few reps, they’re encouraged to raise the weight.
This is called ‘progression,’ and it forms the basis of ‘progressive resistance training.’ Also known as, the thing a good chunk of the population thinks they’re taking part in, when they fire up a couple giant circuits of burpee to med ball twist to skipping rope to kettlebell swing to push up to…
Along with progression, rest determines the intensity of the workout. But not to the point of exhaustion or depletion that’s common in warehouses and living rooms across the country.
Sets
Reps
Tempo
Rest
DB Bench Press
4
6 – 8
3010
90sec
Yes, this type of intensity can have you slightly out of breath (especially if you’re super-setting, or pairing two exercises – usually training antagonistic muscle groups – together), but it’s very different than aerobic fatigue.
Instead of tiring you to the point where you can’t do anything, it’s pushing your muscles to their maximum capacity, and giving them adequate rest to perform in a specific training zone.
Although our obsession with exhaustive training has everyone believing we should be exercising continuously, any qualified fitness professional understands that the work-to-rest ratio determines the training zone.
And despite the ‘rest makes you weak’ mantra from aerobic instructors, or the ‘no pain no gain’ philosophy of many CrossFitters, we start training a different energy system when rest is too short.
We’re not trying to exhaust the muscle, we’re trying to strengthen and improve it.
When we perform an endless number of muscle contractions (repetitions), we end up building muscular endurance as opposed to hypertrophy or strength.
And start training aerobically, instead of anaerobically.
Compromising our ability to build strength and muscle, and facilitating an overall loss in power and explosiveness.Whether it’s resistance training or not.
Even though shorter rest periods produce a larger hormonal response and more metabolic stress, while longer rest periods allow for more weight to be lifted on subsequent sets, there is still a minimum threshold for proper recovery.
If rest periods are too short, the number of reps declines, the weight lifted declines, and so does the total workout volume.
A 2013 review published in the journal Sports Medicine analyzing research on hypertrophy, concluded that rest periods longer than 1 minute are preferable for maintaining optimal workloads while maintaining some metabolic stress.
So, although metabolic stress is one of the main drivers of hypertrophy, we still need to recover between sets.
Otherwise, any increase in exercise byproducts and growth hormone that gets our muscles all pumped up, is balanced by decreases in mechanical tension and strength capacity.
We don’t want our rest period at a point where it’s difficult to perform as much ‘work’ as would be possible with slightly longer rest.Which means keeping it high enough to maximize the number of successful reps over multiple sets, while still experiencing adequate metabolic stress to stimulate hypertrophy.
Anything below this threshold and we’re turning strength training into endurance training.And anything above that, and we’ll struggle to put on muscle.
As illustrated in the chart above, the magic seems to happen between 90 and 180sec of recovery between sets.
Maximizing hypertrophy (metabolic stress) without sacrificing strength (mechanical tension) on the low end, and maximizing strength without minimizing hypertrophy on the high end.
Plus, it’s maximizing muscle-building hormones (testosterone, IGF-1, gH), with high volume and intensity, while minimizing the muscle-burning hormones (cortisol) associated with excessively short rest periods.AKA Cardio!
You can definitely bring ‘intensity’ to your workouts, but it’s not achieved by doing things faster or longer.Bringing intensity is nailing your rest, and selecting a challenging weight that you can perform with proper form and tempo.
Don’t shorten the rest, or do extra sloppy reps, like the exhausted exerciser.And don’t do partial reps with a weight that’s too heavy, like a bro with an ego.
That’s not intensity, it’s stupidity!
Author’s Bio
Mike Sheridan has been advising on nutrition and fitness for nearly a decade. He developed an obsession for research early in his career as he noticed the immense gap between the scientific evidence and the message to the public.
Mike has helped a tremendous amount of people lose the fat and keep it off without counting calories, doing cardio, or sacrificing their health. His success is due in large part to his philosophy that ‘Transformation Starts With Education;’ not just showing his clients what to do, but teaching them why.
To learn more about training ‘smart’ not ‘hard,’ check out Mike’s new book 1% Fitness. Where, in addition to showing you how to maximize your training results with a minimal commitment to exercise, he delivers 14 weeks of workouts that you can view and track on your smartphone.
Note from TG:Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Mike Sheridan, a nutrition researcher, trainer, and author of the book Eat Meat and Stop Jogging.
That’s about as manly of a title for a book as I’ve ever seen. The only way it could be even manlier is if it said:
He-Man Says to Eat Meat and Stop Jogging.
My immaturity aside, I’ve long been a proponent of the saying “you need to get fit to run, not run to get fit.”
I understand why many people gravitate towards long-distance, steady-state cardio. There’s no equipment involved – all you need is a straight line and a pair of shoes (shirt and pants optional) – and pretty much anyone can do it.
Thing is: running – especially long-distance, repetitive running – can be a joint killer if one is not properly prepared for the additional stress. In addition, many people are programmed into thinking that jogging (and “cardio” in general) is the key to a lean, healthy body.
While it can most certainly enter the equation – I do feel it’s an often overprescribed and over-rated mode of exercise outside of actually being an endurance athlete.
More to the point: it should be a component of one’s overall fitness plan, not the sole approach.
Nevertheless I like to think of myself as a middle-of-the-road kind of guy and hate using monikers such as everyone, never, and always.
Everything has a time and place – except maybe Crocs – running included.
That said I do lean more towards the camp which favors either walking or short bursts of sprinting and avoiding “stuff in the middle.” And, of course, lifting heavy stuff.
I enjoyed this piece by Mike and I hope you do too.
Is Running Natural?
Depends what you consider running. The one for speed or the one for distance?
Based on the prevalence of marathons and triathlons, and the number of visible joggers in most neighborhoods, you’re likely thinking distance. Moderate intensity running appears to be the most common form of exercise, but does that mean its natural?
The reason most of us start jogging is because that’s what we think is necessary to burn calories and lose weight. Sadly, our sedentary, inactive, technologically driven jobs and lifestyles, and tendency to select high-carb, sugar-loaded foods, has given us the false impression that we need to eat less and exercise more.
Apparently our fatness is because of a lack of fitness (and an abundance of foodness!)
Don’t get me wrong, we all need to move more; but the question of ‘how’ is critical. Instead of getting scientific, lets look at two simple questions that provide considerable insight into how we should be moving:
What was our daily activity like in the past? When we were hunter-gatherers.
How did we move before we were taught how to move? When we were kids.
Prior to the agricultural revolution, we actually had to go out and get our food. The cows weren’t in the barn, they were roaming the countryside. The berries weren’t at the grocery store, they were out in the wild. And you didn’t drive somewhere to eat, you gathered fruits and vegetables on your walk…as you looked for animals to hunt!
The biggest difference between then and now is that they moved frequently at a slow pace,[I] and we don’t. Many are surprised to learn that most hunter-gatherers walked more than six miles per day. Any exercise outside of that was infrequent, and usually consisted of acute bouts of highly intense movement in order to survive.
Hunter-gatherers didn’t run for 20 miles at 70% intensity to escape a hungry wolf, they ran for 20 seconds at 110% intensity to escape a hungry wolf.
There was obviously some lifting, climbing, carrying, and building involved as well, but generally speaking their daily walking combined with a diet composed of animal protein, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit is what produced this physique:
Our ancestors would probably laugh watching us run for hours to ‘burn calories.’ Back then, energy was conserved, and you either walked to get somewhere, or you ran really fast to get away from something.
Even when organized hunting developed, hunter-gatherers relied on their brains and other resources to track and trap animals (not chase them around for 3hrs!). Recent findings provide evidence that the earliest form of human was not designed to run long distances because the conical shape of the ribcage made it difficult for them to swing their arms.[II]
The same conclusion is reached when looking at early childhood movement prior to instruction from parents and coaches. If you take a look at children playing in a park with no constraints, you’ll notice that they run and play with intensity for short bursts, and follow it up with ample recovery before running again.
If you don’t feel like observing it yourself (or you don’t want to look like a creep), science did it for you in a 1995 study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Researchers found that children playing didn’t move consistently at a constant speed, they unknowingly exercised in intervals.[III]
Most kids have to be taught how to jog – instinctively they feel more comfortable walking or running fast.
Ask any rehabilitation specialist (physio, chiro, masseuse) and they’ll tell you how detrimental chronic repetitive movements can be on muscles, joints, bone, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.
During the time of writing this article there’s a Dr. Scholls commercial with celebrity trainer, Dolvett Quince. The commercial is about ‘clients missing workouts because of injuries.’ Interestingly, all three problems he mentions are related to running:
Shin splints, plantar fasciitis, and runners knee.
Note from TG: Listen, no one is saying (and I think Mike will agree) that going out for a jog here and there is going to steal all your gainz or turn you into a Christian Bale’s character from The Machinist overnight.
Moreover, no one is saying that jogging doesn’t have any health benefits – it most certainly does! And honestly, if jogging is something you like to do and enjoy….by all means jog to your hearts content.
But please don’t continue to espouse on all it’s “benefits” when you’re the one always hurt and paying for your physical therapists or chiro’s Porsche.
Looking at the medical records of most Cardio Kings, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’re consistently nursing injuries. All of these conditions are because of the stress and impact from chronic cardio sessions. And it’s the reason running shoe companies, like Nike, bring in trillions of dollars selling you pillows and cushions for your feet.
Other than musculoskeletal damage, continuous and prolonged exercise conflicts with our natural fight or flight response to stress.[IV] Usually when there’s a threat to homeostasis (stress), our heart beat accelerates, blood vessels constrict, and we secrete adrenal hormones (corticosteroids), so that our brain and muscles have the necessary energy and blood flow to ensure we survive.
A beneficial adaptation for short periods of time, but when experienced chronically the body produces excess stress hormones (cortisol), and other important functions and systems must take a backseat (like digestion, reproduction, and immune function) as our muscles and brain take priority.
Excess corticosteroids are linked to heart disease,[V] poor reproductive health,[VI] and decreased immunity.[VII]
The irony in the term ‘stress fracture’ is almost laughable, when you understand the excess cortisol and oxidative stress attributable to chronic cardio.
Unfortunately, many that select running (the long duration kind) as their predominant form of exercise tend to seek more miles and higher speeds, which further damages muscle and bone, increases stress, and raises one’s risk of degenerative disease and early death.[VIII]
So What is Natural?
Obviously, we can’t mimic the exact daily regimen of the hunter-gatherer, but we can all take 30min or more per day to go for a walk.[IX]
It may not be 5+ miles/day, but it drastically lowers our risk of the common diseases affecting North Americans. Walking lowers cortisol, decreases inflammation, lowers blood pressure and triglycerides, improves cognitive function, and increases lifespan; with no muscle loss, hormone disruption, or potential for injury.[X]
Aside from daily walking, the exercise regimen that’s most in line with our genetics is functional strength training. We can match the physical labor of our forefathers by lifting, pressing, pulling, carrying, and squatting a few times per week. Sprinkling in the occasional ‘run for your life’ sprint every once in a while doesn’t hurt either.
The problem with most North Americans is that they attempt to make up for crappy eating habits and an inactive day with lengthy moderate intensity cardio sessions. All these 3-hour bike rides and 10 mile jogs lead to is an increased appetite (for sugar!), elevated stress levels, muscle mass loss, free radical accumulation, decreased immunity, and chronic inflammation.[XI]
The time and effort wasted is not the sad part, it’s that this weight management strategy shows little improvement in body composition (muscle-to-fat),[XII] and the additional stress and overconsumption of sugar[XIII] to ‘fuel workouts’ actually increases belly fat.
Ironically, losing belly fat is the reason most start jogging or doing cardio to begin with.
We shouldn’t be running marathons, or taking part in the high-mileage, high-frequency training that goes with it, because we’re not designed to consistently handle that kind of stress.
Although it’s common for endurance fanatics to cite examples of long distance running in some of the earliest-known hunter-gatherer tribes that we descended from, this was not frequent.
Note from TG:Born to Run is still one of the most interesting books I’ve read in recent years.
For example, the San People, or Bushmen, of the Kalahari Desert are known for their persistent tracking and hunting techniques to catch larger prey like antelope. However, it’s clear that this was a rare occurrence. The San People did a fair amount of trapping and practiced a variety of less labor-intensive hunting techniques.[XIV]
Furthermore, as you can see from this video,[XV] the tracking involves mostly walking, with only one tribesman taking part in the long-distance running portion.
I think it’s fair to say that the Bushmen doing the running wasn’t the same every month, and if it was the same, that would mean 99.9% of the tribe did no running. Likewise, one could assume that a successful hunt would mean adequate food for some time. Suggesting that these runs were very infrequent.
I don’t doubt that marathons, triathlons, and ultra-endurance events are possible, but that doesn’t mean they’re plausible.
Just because we have the hamstrings and Achilles tendon to run, and are equipped with the unique ability to sweat and release heat so we can go far, doesn’t mean we should. When it comes to survival, we’re capable of staying awake for days, going without food for weeks, and running for extremely long distances until an animal tires, but that doesn’t mean we should turn these practices into habits.
I believe this quote from Dr. Mark J. Smith sums it up quite well:
“While the endurance athlete has a need to maintain a high sub-maximal intensity for long periods to be successful, the vast majority of athletes, and certainly humans in general, have no need for this type of activity.”[XVI]
About the Author
Mike Sheridan has been advising on nutrition and fitness for nearly a decade. He developed an obsession for research early in his career as he noticed the immense gap between the scientific evidence and the message to the public.
“I know conventional wisdom is not working for you, because it’s not working for anyone! The first step in rescuing your health is understanding why everyone else believes and follows the nutrition and training recommendations that have unfortunately become common knowledge.”
Mike has helped a tremendous amount of people lose the fat and keep it off without counting calories, doing cardio, or sacrificing their health. His success is due in large part to his philosophy that ‘Transformation Starts With Education;’ not just showing his clients what to do, but teaching them why.
[IV]Cordain, L., Gotshall, R. W., and Eaton, S. B. 1998. Physical activity, energy expenditure and fitness: an evolutionary perspective. International Journal of Sports Medicine 19:328-335.
[VI] Loucks, A. B. 2001. Physical health of the female athlete: observations, effects, and causes of reproductive disorders. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 26: S176-85.
[XIII] 1990. Utilization of fatty acids during exercise. In Biochemistry of Exercise VII, ed. A. W. Taylor et al., 319-28. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
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Mike Sheridan has been advising on nutrition and fitness for nearly a decade. He developed an obsession for research early in his career as he noticed the immense gap between the scientific evidence and the message to the public. 
