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Intensity vs. Sustainability

Fadi

Fadi

...
Or the title could have read: Intensity vs. Sustainability/Consistency.

When I first put up my HIIT on here Let’s Lose Some Fat Mass… , some members suggested that Tabata was superior because it’s harder, more taxing if you like…more of a killer they told me. Upon reflecting on their claims, a question quickly formed inside of my head. The question was this: since when does harder equate with being more appropriate? When I designed my HIIT, I did it with two fundamental reasons behind it; sustainability and consistency.

It’s sometimes unfortunate that our zeal for intensity tends to drive others away, who perhaps have just gotten enough motivation to start up a training program. Furthermore, what is intensity, how do we define it? I’ve alluded to this exact subject before on this forum, that intensity is not confined to one and only one principle. Some (unfortunately most) would view or equate intensity with the lifting of heavier weights. Others who are more experienced and knowledgeable would include other factors to the mix, factors such as time; the number of reps, the amount of total sets, and the elimination of momentum and so on and so forth.

When it comes to either losing body fat or gaining some much needed cardio/respiratory fitness, most beginners and even seasoned weight lifters become disenchanted with what’s on offer. They become that way not so much because they’re perhaps impatient, lazy, or both, but instead they become disheartened because we (“the experts”) often expect them to run before they have mastered walking so to speak.

It takes a sustainable routine that is done with consistency to win the ultimate race, which is the realisation of your goals. In no way am I down grading the use of the Tabata method, however…

…the moral of the story is this: give someone a chance to walk before they can run, because failing to do so would only see them run…… away!


Fadi.
 
Last edited:
<3 Fadi
Some people just think their ideals are the only ideals and don't want a whisper of anything different....
Others embrace new ideas and methods.....
 
deep said:
<3 Fadi
Some people just think their ideals are the only ideals and don't want a whisper of anything different....
Others embrace new ideas and methods.....
Click to expand...

My way or the highway has never belonged in my vocabulary, ever! I’d like to think that I belong in the latter group of your mentioning above. Thank you deep.


Fadi.
 
Completely agree Fadi, it's for that reason that I started my mother and her friend on the 3 day per week beginner program. They were at the gym for months and had no progress doing body part split 5 days a week coupled with punch fit. I asked if they wanted to train at home in my gym for free and I would show them what I did to initiate my body re-composition. They agreed and needless to say they are both experiencing fat loss and strength/muscle gains already and its only been 6 weeks. I asked my Mother why she thinks she is doing so well, she said its not as hard as before......she is 59 and her friend 60 (never trained, both prob 10kg to fat). It made a major impact on them to go a bit easier and maintain consistency. I have them put the weight up only once per week and they are getting the results they wanted.....go figure huh lol.

Common sense isn't common any more Fadi.

By the way, its great to see you back on the forum :)
Graeme
 
Rambodian said:
Completely agree Fadi, it's for that reason that I started my mother and her friend on the 3 day per week beginner program. They were at the gym for months and had no progress doing body part split 5 days a week coupled with punch fit. I asked if they wanted to train at home in my gym for free and I would show them what I did to initiate my body re-composition. They agreed and needless to say they are both experiencing fat loss and strength/muscle gains already and its only been 6 weeks. I asked my Mother why she thinks she is doing so well, she said its not as hard as before......she is 59 and her friend 60 (never trained, both prob 10kg to fat). It made a major impact on them to go a bit easier and maintain consistency. I have them put the weight up only once per week and they are getting the results they wanted.....go figure huh lol.

Common sense isn't common any more Fadi.

By the way, its great to see you back on the forum :)
Graeme
Click to expand...

I’m extremely proud of what you have done Graeme. Body re-compositioning you say! Wow, someone is speaking my language around here. One word would suffice to sum up my feelings towards your post Sir: Bravo!


Fadi.
 
I think when someone's new to any kind of training, the most important thing isn't that their training be productive, but that it be safe and enjoyable. When someone's a rank novice, even stretching will make them stronger; even getting stronger will improve their aerobic fitness; even getting stronger will improve their flexibility. Basically, doing anything will make the rank novice better at just about everything -- so long as they actually do it and it's safe.

After a few months, they will need to train a little more specifically to achieve their goals. They may need more intensity to keep making progress. They may need more frequency, or more volume, or more rest, or more focus on their diet, or more....(etc), and by this time they'll have discovered that exercise doesn't have to be horrible, that they can actually enjoy it. As a result, they'll be more happy to do the things necessary to achieve what they want to achieve, and they'll have a few months worth of body awareness built up, which will make it easier to learn some of the harder things.

We often make the mistake of throwing people into the deep end as their first swimming lesson, figuratively speaking. Unfortunately, most human beings feel alienated by this. It gives them a bad experience as the basis for their training, and this is often difficult to cure. It is better to let them play in the shallow end, get their feet wet, have some fun and then start moving into deeper waters when they're ready for it.
 
RyanF said:
I think when someone's new to any kind of training, the most important thing isn't that their training be productive, but that it be safe and enjoyable. When someone's a rank novice, even stretching will make them stronger; even getting stronger will improve their aerobic fitness; even getting stronger will improve their flexibility. Basically, doing anything will make the rank novice better at just about everything -- so long as they actually do it and it's safe.

After a few months, they will need to train a little more specifically to achieve their goals. They may need more intensity to keep making progress. They may need more frequency, or more volume, or more rest, or more focus on their diet, or more....(etc), and by this time they'll have discovered that exercise doesn't have to be horrible, that they can actually enjoy it. As a result, they'll be more happy to do the things necessary to achieve what they want to achieve, and they'll have a few months worth of body awareness built up, which will make it easier to learn some of the harder things.

We often make the mistake of throwing people into the deep end as their first swimming lesson, figuratively speaking. Unfortunately, most human beings feel alienated by this. It gives them a bad experience as the basis for their training, and this is often difficult to cure. It is better to let them play in the shallow end, get their feet wet, have some fun and then start moving into deeper waters when they're ready for it.
Click to expand...
Precisely.
 
I started my mother and her friend on the 3 day weekly beginner program. They were at the gym for months and had no progress doing part of the system split 5 days per weeks time in addition to punch fit. I asked if they wanted to train at home in my gym for free and I would show them what I did to initiate my system re-composition.....
 
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