by Kerry Taylor
“Make sure you move with intention!” Many of you may have heard me belt this out over the microphone or during a training session at some point in time. It matters more than you may think. It can be the difference in continuing to make progress or becoming stagnant and hitting a plateau. Yes, movement is progress, but how you move determines the end results. We can all sweat and finish the workout. Add in the difference maker, INTENTION! This is one of the reasons that any group of people can go through the same workout or program and yield different results. It’s not necessarily the program or training session.
What do I mean by intention? It means to not just go through the motions. It’s the “why” you’re doing something, it’s the specific goal, the focus, the form, the execution behind every rep. Here is an example of what I am talking about. Let’s say you have a set of squats for 5 reps.
Low or No Intention: You grab your weight and just get the set done, and quickly move onto the next set of exercises so you can get it done and finish your workout.
High Intention: Take the cues given to you and act upon them. Squat to proper depth, breathe in and brace your core properly, have your knees track towards your toes, drive through your heels, big toe and pinky press hard into the floor. Reset, refocus and repeat the next rep and try to make it better than the last.
Same movement, different result.
Here are a few things to think about when training. Before you start your training session, ask yourself or ask your coach:
What’s the focus of this exercise?
Is it strength focused? Then we want to move heavy weight with maximum force. Is it to increase power? We want to move weight as quickly as possible, making sure to not rush to get to the next set and keep the reps low. Is it to better our technique? Then take your time, pay attention and adjust to the details and nuances of the exercise. Be precise. Is it to build muscle? Then have more control of the weight and increase the time under tension.
What should my intensity be?
This matters a lot! If you want to build strength, for example, then constantly moving non-challenging weight will give you very little return in the realm of strength. Intensity can mean many different things. It can mean the weight you’re moving, it can mean the time you’re working for, it can mean the number of reps you’re performing. People sometimes don’t do enough to get said stimulus we are striving to achieve.
Am I aiming to improve?
Tracking your training in your head, in a book, or whatever system you use will allow you to aim to try and improve on your last performance. That can mean improving as little as 2.5 lbs, increasing by 1 rep, tightening up your form, or just simply having better control of a drill. It all counts! Doing the combination of the same exercise, same weight, same reps all the time is very low intention to the exercise.
Don’t forget the mind-body connection aspect of your training. Let’s use a face pull, for example. This exercise will give you great benefits from performing it, but if you don’t focus in, you may be missing out on some of the great results this movement can give you. You can just pull the band towards you, or… you can focus in and allow the shoulder blades to move, squeeze the shoulder blades as you pull back, and allow them to move apart as the arms move back forward. Move under control to get the feel of the drill. SLOW DOWN! FOCUS! OWN THE REP! That’s where the results are.
All in all we should aim to be better each set, each rep, each workout we have the opportunity to do. Don’t just move, even though we have those days where we are just working out to move. Make the majority of what you do a high intention, heavy session. Going in with that mindset will ensure progress down the road.
Until next time, continue to live life 1 degree above the rest.
