Peter Maneos: Workout Intensity
Athlete, model, and fitness professional Pete Maneos understands the requirements to build a healthy and aesthetically appealing physique. In order to continually improve and make physical gains from training, you must find ways to maintain focus and intensity in your workout. Many people hit the gym every day and simply go through the motions, paying little attention to how their body responds to what they are doing. While such workouts can help you maintain the fitness you have already achieved, they will not impel you to a higher level.
If you wish to get the most out of your workout and want to experience ongoing improvement, then Peter Maneos offers the following suggestions for maintaining focus and intensity.
1. Work with a personal trainer or coach to design a workout routine that meets your goals. Involving a trainer can help you learn proper form, which maximizes the benefits you receive from exercise and minimizes the chance of injury.
2. If you have been following the same routine for several months and it feels too easy, incorporate new exercises or change out your routine entirely.
3. Music can help you focus during a workout and provide motivation. Watching television or reading while you workout, however, distracts you from what you are doing.
4. Pay close attention to the cues your body sends you. As you work a body part, focus on those particular muscles, as well as supporting muscles, and listen to your body’s signals. Observe your form as well, assuring that as you move through a range of motion you do not rely on “cheats” such as momentum or help from uninvolved muscle groups.
5. Perform weight-lifting repetitions to failure. In other words, repeat a weight lifting exercise until you cannot raise the weight one more time.
6. Avoid resting in the middle of a set. For instance, when performing a biceps curl, every time you fully straighten your elbow or move beyond maximum flexion, you provide your muscles with a small chance to rest. Have a trainer or experienced lifter show you the proper range of motion for each exercise.
7. For true intensity, slow down your speed of motion when lifting weights and focus on lowering the weight to its original position just as slowly.
8. Add special techniques, like supersets, to up your intensity.
By Pete Maneos
For an explanation of the superset technique, check out the following video.













