2024.02.15 – Do you need “high intensity” training?

Earlier this week we sent out an email describing two different interpretations of the term “high intensity training” and why it can be confusing.  Today I want to give a quick overview of pros and cons of using it.

First off, if someone is relatively new to training is it borderline impossible to even have them do high intensity training because they do not really have established maximal performances.  Even if they did, it is generally unwise to throw someone who is relatively new right into the deep end with this type of training.  So, if you do decide to include some of it in your workouts, I suggest you already have a reasonable foundation of strength & conditioning established first.

BENEFITS

• It can help recruit and develop high threshold motor units, which is critical for maximal strength and/or power gains
• Used wisely, it can help with the endurance of your fast twitch muscle fibers so that they recover more quickly between hard bouts 
• Again if used wisely, it can have benefits for your endocrine system 
• It can help you make rapid progress, but in most cases only temporarily

DRAWBACKS

• It can be easy to over-train, and you can hit a point of diminishing returns … meaning you actually start going backwards instead of moving forwards
• Progress tends to be significantly less stable compared to training at lower intensity levels, meaning that you might feel like a rockstar one week, and then your performance might see a massive drop the next week
• While high intensity training can lead to fast progress in the short-term, it has a lower overall ceiling in the long-term; if you only do high intensity training you are absolutely limiting your long-term progress

So, should you do it in your training?  It depends.  For someone with a solid baseline already established it is probably good to mix it in sometimes, but definitely not all of the time.  If you think of your training as a pyramid then low and middle intensity training forms the base layers of the pyramid, and high intensity forms the peak – and if you do not have a large amount of base layer established, then your peak will be low.

-Tony