Reclaiming “Intensity” — Why Every Goal Needs It (And Why It Doesn’t Mean What You Think)

What intensity is?

When people hear things like "Hybrid training", "CrossFit", "functional training", or "high-intensity," people quickly imagine intensity means something like 'trying to make myself taste copper and shut down my own nervous system'.

That reputation isn't entirely unfair. There is a certain type of CrossFit athlete who genuinely uses "how close did I feel to coughing up my own blood?" as a ten-point intensity scale. And maybe that works for them: their goals, their messed up psychology.

Not all intensity is the same

If you're coming back from an injury, juggling a brutal work schedule, or just trying to get started — how can that intensity be for you?

Here's what most coaches either don't know or don't bother to explain: all effective training requires intensity. But intensity doesn't mean a high heart rate.

Intensity is simply a measure of your effort, in the direction that matters to you. That's it. And the way it's applied changes completely depending on what you're actually trying to achieve:

• Building raw strength? Your intensity isn't measured by how hard you're breathing — it's measured by the percentage of your one-rep max you're lifting. It lives in heavy loads, long rest periods, and a focus on tension and technical execution.

• Building muscle? Your intensity is about proximity to failure. The last two or three reps of a set should be genuinely hard. That's where the stimulus is. Your lungs don't need to be burning.

• Improving conditioning? That's where cardiovascular intensity comes in — and even then, the dose matters far more than the drama.

The reason this matters

Without some form of intensity, your body has no reason to change. Fat loss, muscle gain, strength, resilience — none of it happens without a training stimulus that actually challenges you. That stimulus is intensity, applied for your goal.

If you properly chase intensity, you no longer need to hide behind more sets, more volume and longer workouts. The hard work is done, and quickly.

I make this work for you

My job isn't to throw you into the deep end and see what happens. It's to find exactly the type and level of intensity that matches where you are and what you're building toward — and to make sure you're moving well enough to get the most out of it.

Part of this is movement reviews. I want to know how you move under light loads, and we'll fix and technique issues. I then have a baseline to see what you deviate from.

After that baseline, I can review a whole set from rep 1 to finish. I can see the form change. I can see the speed change. I can hear your brief review of the set and your breathing. And from all that, I can assess your intensity.

No blood coughing required.