99% of people in the gym WON’T do this

INTENT……INTENT….INTET!!!! You could also substitute this word for ‘Effort’. The means to execute something with your maximal output. Doing “just enough” will not only produce undesirable results, but this will also produce a bad habit for when it comes to moving increased loads over time. The beauty of this is that we can pair this with some of the latest programming methods that are proven to be superior to the ‘old’ ways……and it’s called ‘Velocity Based Training’.

The Science

Technology can now measure the exact speed of your bar which allows us to use some objective measures over time to monitor progression. Research with this technology shows us a more advantageous approach to determining the load that you should have on your bar for specific reps and sets. Research is showing this to be a superior approach to determining your training loads. Therefore without intent it would be hard to find an accurate load right? Then without the accurate load, is that session going to be worth your while? The appropriate training stimulus is crucial when it comes to progression!

(Click the link below if you love science)

https://www.trainwithpush.com/blog/an-intro-to-velocity-based-training

Now if you read the blog above you’ll understand the old ‘percentage’ based programming. This can have a great layout for potentially your more advanced lifters (for the ones where adaptation doesn’t come easy, or their 1RM doesn’t change rapidly over the space of 4-6 weeks). However for your more novice athletes, we commonly see a dramatic change in 1RM’s over the duration of a training phase. As we see this 1RM increase these percentages may then not be enough of a stimulus to push optimal results out of your training. So we can now see why training with ‘velocity’ based methods might be the more advantageous approach. This not only produces results, but stresses the importance of INTENT…..EFFORT and EXECUTION!

For The Coaches

With the use of this technology we can unlock a lot of clients potential from one single session of implementing “INTENT”. Over the years I have used the nerdy science data to help clients buy in to the approach. Reassure them with video feedback of just how fast the bar is moving when they put in effort, and just how much more is in the tank. The beauty of this is, even without this ‘Data’ you can still use the same approach and get the same result. Sometimes without the visual feedback the environment might be your go to scenario to create the desired effort from your athletes. Many of the clients I have work with over the years would agree that when you have your coach yelling in your ears to move the bar as fast as you can, it comes up a little quicker than usual

The Takeaway

Now I’m a nerd and love the data. Love the justification. Love the objective measures and feedback to guide my training and coaching. The beauty of this for everyone else is that we can confidently say that the simple approach of INTENT is naturally the most powerful stimulus to produce a great result, determine your training loads and structure your long term approach to training. Remove your habit of ‘just enough is good enough’ and let’s see where your training goes

Author Coach Cal