Dullard's revelation: does variation in workout intensity = fitness variety?

It's an enigmatic title, I admit. But I don't think it'll take you long to figure out what I had in mind in formulating it. So please, read on.

I'm slowly coming to grips with the fact that my existence has been a series of moments of intellectual density interspersed with occasional flashes of brilliance. That's a change from, say, 30 years ago, when I might have thought the reverse--viz., a succession of brilliant moments disrupted by occasional bouts of density. And, yes, it's taken me that long to realize the truth of the matter. But I digress.

In this entry I just want to write about a "revelation" I had the other day for introducing further variation into my exercise regimen. And, as I consider how to write about it, I realize that it's something that should have become evident to me some time ago.

Put simply, I've finally figured out that a good way to further vary my regimen is to introduce periods of lessened intensity with periods of heightened intensity. Same exercises, but a slightly different approach. And, as I write these lines, it further occurs to me that we already do this with the staple part of our regimen--the cycling part. Guess I just never thought about it in this way before.

Now, bear in mind that, as I've written previously, I believe that variation in the fitness routine can help us maintain our regimens by breaking up the monotony of doing the same exercises over and over, week after week, and--hopefully--year after year.

What I mean when I mention the role lessened intensity has played in our cycling regimen is that, as readers of this blog (yes, all 0 of you) will be aware, we ride stationary bikes during the part of the year when on-road cycling is not possible. And that we take it a lot easier when doing that than when we ride on the roads. So we have a period of lessened intensity built into the mainstay of our fitness regimen, one that corresponds to cycling season.

Ta daaah!

And, of course, there have been times when I've taken it easy when doing the upper-body, strength-training component of our regimen--mostly on days when I'm not feeling too well--as well. But I never thought of doing something similar to what we do with respect to cycling when it comes to our strength-training routines, i.e., having periods when we work out with less intensity. Nor did I, for some reason, think of that as a way to introduce further variation into our fitness regimen. But now I have.

So, how comes this revelation? Well, there are a few contributing factors.

Perhaps first and foremost is the fact that we're now going into our 4th year of having a regular, year-round exercise regimen. And we've been using some of the same upper-body routines for some time now--some we've done for 3 or 4 cycles already.

And believe me "muscle confusion" has not worked as advertised by the P90X folks (no great surprise to me). That is to say that the exercises, despite the variation we have over the course of the year, cease to have the sort of impact they used to. No longer do I feel sore for days after a hard workout: no, sometimes when I've gone really hard and am expecting the soreness I used to see, I'm pretty well recovered after only 36 hours or so: not much soreness remains at all.

And I find myself "hitting a wall" as well. For example, it's just as hard for me to do 10 push-ups today as it was a year ago. I'm not gaining much in that department--owing, certainly in some measure, to advancing age.

But at the same time I'm not out to win any push-up contests. So, though I wonder about the seeming lack of progress, I can't say it's something that is especially bothersome.

But this sort of thing can, it must be recognized, detract from morale. The seeming lack of progress can make one wonder whether what they're doing is really worthwhile: haven't we all come to that (faulty) conclusion at some point(s) in our fitness journey(s)?

Then, there's a related issue I confront. I tend to get into a sort of contest with myself, always pushing to outdo some previous mark I've made: a larger number of push-ups, more repetitions with a given amount of weight--that sort of thing. That kind of attitude can further erode morale when the hoped-for results are not quickly attained.

But there is really no contest here. I'm deluding myself to some extent in pretending that there is. I'm certainly not going to enter--much less win--any push-up contests. I'd be blown away by just about anyone who's serious about fitness and is even as little 10 years younger than me. So there's a bit of delusion involved in these imagined competitions.

No, the only thing I'm really aiming to achieve in all these fitness pursuits is a good health. So why the contests? No, I think I need to get away from that mentality more. Being intense at times is good, but being in a competitive mode all the time is not and, in my experience of exercising on my own, is even likely to contribute to burn-out.

So, what's needed to counteract that is to deliberately lessen intensity. At least a certain part of the fitness year as I've conceived of it, should be conducted at a lessened intensity. And I plan on that portion being the majority of the year. Yes, intensity in my upper-body strength training is henceforth to be limited to short intervals during the course of the year--as I'm now conceiving of it, to just several sessions of each the phases into which we divide our annual regimen.

And an added benefit to deliberately lessening intensity of upper-body workouts will be to introduce a bit more variation into our regimen. True, we're doing the same exercises. But my speculation is that lessening intensity during most of the period during which we're doing these exercises is going to make them seem somewhat different. And preliminary experimentation proves this out.

Ok, so that's the theory. Now, how will it be implemented?

As I mentioned, I have a habit of getting into competitions with myself, trying always to push harder and outdo myself--often unsuccessfully. So, how can I get myself to "take it easy" for most of each of the phases into which I've divided my fitness year?

My lone experiment thus far was conducted using a resistance band instead of weights. That way, I had only one resistance level--and not a terribly difficult one at that.

It worked pretty well. There were a couple of logistical issues--mainly related to hairy arms and the bands ripping out hairs when performing certain exercises. But I did find using the band to be a fairly effective way of restraining myself.

Another way to introduce restraint would be, of course, to simply set out only lighter-weight dumbbells for use in a given routine. I'm not sure whether I'll use the resistance band or the lighter weights, but either should be equally effective in lessening the intensity of my workouts.

So I would use that band or those lighter weights for most of a given cycle or phase, then, for a certain number of sessions in that cycle, I'd allow myself to push hard--to get intense--to my heart's content. I haven't decided for how many sessions that should go on, nor have I thought much about at what point during the phase those heightened-intensity sessions should occur. Offhand, I presume something like 6 - 8 sessions per phase, and as I've thought about it thus far, those would probably be grouped together at the end of the phase.

But these are matters I'm still considering. Likely I'll have to experiment a bit to see what works best. But that is probably what I'll try to start off with.

So, stay tuned for my reports on how this new form of variation is working and whether, as it seems to me now, it comprises a worthwhile adjustment to my regimen.