Get More From Your Strength Sessions: Lift With Intent

Want a simple way to get more out of your strength sessions?

Lift with intent.

Meaning, irrespective of the actual load on the bar, you should lift with great form and the intent to move that weight as fast as possible, all the way from your warm up sets with the empty bar up to your top working sets (especially for your main 1-3 strength exercises for that day).

A lot of people are casual and sloppy with their warm up sets, and only get serious when the weight starts to become heavy. This is a big mistake. Executing your warm up sets with good form and intent primes the nervous system, muscles, and your mind for the heavier sets to come. Plus attempting to move submaximal loads with good speed is a great way to train power and force production without having to do a ton of additional exercises, which is important if you’re crunched for time.  

The bar speed will slow down the heavier the load becomes. This is unavoidable. But don’t intentionally move slow. Keep attacking every rep of every set like you mean it. You wouldn’t mail it in while sprinting up a steep hill or trying to catch someone at the line, so you shouldn’t do it in the gym either, especially if one of the reasons you're lifting is to improve your run or bike performance. 

Of course this isn’t appropriate for every exercise, and slower lifting tempos certainly still have a place in your training at different times in the year. For example, a slower tempo is usually better for beginners just starting out and learning a movement, lifting in the off season to build muscle, or during early stage injury rehab. But the message is the same. Don’t go through the motions with your exercises, and try to perform some of them with greater intent and velocity when appropriate. Most of us only have a limited time to strength train as it is, so you might as well try to make the most out of it.