Many lifters vary the intensity of their workouts throughout a week of training, or they vary the intensity of their training throughout a longer training cycle consisting of weeks or months. There are several approaches that can be used in order to determine how to vary intensity in a beneficial manner. One of the methods that I recommend is based on what I refer to as the intensity pyramid.
The basis of the intensity pyramid is simple, you can utilize low intensity training quite often, however, as intensity increases, the frequency must decrease. The bottom of the pyramid is the biggest part and represents lower intensity training that can be done more often. As the intensity increases, the pyramid begins to narrow which means that you can’t do it as often. The top of the pyramid is the smallest part of the pyramid and represents the training that is done least often. Of course, this refers to the training that is done at the highest level of intensity.
Four Levels of the Intensity Pyramid
One way to organize your training is to divide it into four different levels of intensity.
The first level of intensity can be utilized in every workout when doing three workouts per week.
The second level of intensity can be utilized twice per week.
The third level of intensity can be utilized once per week.
The fourth level of intensity should only be utilized once every two weeks.
At this point, you are probably wondering how each level of intensity is defined. The contents of each level of intensity is described below:
Intensity Level 1 (To be done in every workout)
1 set x 10 reps with 30% of your single rep max
1 set x 5 reps with 50%
2 sets x 5 reps with 60%
1 set x 3 reps with 70%
1 set x 1 reps with 85%
Intensity Level 2 (To be perform for workout one and workout two, but not workout three each week)
Perform each exercise according to the following sets, reps, and percentages of the maximum weight that you can lift for a single rep. Intensity level 2 should be performed after completing the intensity level 1 portion of the workout.
Do 1 to 3 sets of 5 reps with 80% of your single rep max
Do 1 set of 15 reps with 60% of your single rep max
Intensity Level 3 (To be performed during workout three each week)
Do a heavy single rep using 95% of your single rep max after completing intensity level 1 training.
Intensity Level 4 (To be performed during your third workout of the week, every other week)
Do one set to failure (or close to failure) for each exercise using 30% to 40% of your single rep max. This should be done in the same workout as your heavy single rep at intensity level 3. Do this light set to failure after completing your heavy single rep.
The Intensity Pyramid
The idea of the intensity pyramid is similar to the high frequency training pyramid that I describe in the book, The High Frequency Training Pyramid. The book can be found on the homepage of this website. However, I want to point out that the specific workouts are much different when comparing the workouts described in this article to the workouts described in the book.
One reason I decided to write on the topic of the intensity pyramid is because I once believed that using light weights for high reps to failure was counterproductive to strength training. Likewise, it seemed that going for a heavy single rep max often led to overtraining. However, I found that light weights to failure and heavy singles with Near maximum weight proved to be beneficial when done using the proper training frequency.
The frequency of each level of intensity can be adjusted according to the rate at which you are able to recover from each type of training. The important part is to understand the concept that lower intensity training can be done more frequently, and higher intensity training should be done less frequently. The exact volume and frequency of each level of intensity should be adjusted according to what works for each individual. My hope is that you can integrate these concepts into your workouts in a manner that is beneficial to your training. May God bless you with the best of training.