Training Intensity Explained

This isn't as easy of a topic as people think

Author

Fletcher Poole
January 04, 2025

Fletcher Poole Banner

Train hard!

It’s so simple how don’t you understand.

Then you realise there’s more to it. You’ve got motor unit recruitment. There’s different things that interfere.

What is training hard anymore…

Sure the purest form is reps from failure 😁 

Which can be influenced by motor unit recruitment…

It can be really tricky when everything feels interconnected so I’ll try and explain this simply.

  1. If you view training intensity as something that’s not numerical, you’re going to struggle hard. Perfect let’s use an RPE scale!

  2. If you log RPE as anything other than how many reps you think you can get next, you’re going to struggle hard. Ahh, in that case let’s treat RPE as inverted RIR (reps in reserve).

  3. Now we can give rough estimates to sets and determine how “intense” they were.

This is how I’d program things, it also lines up perfectly with your motor unit recruitment gains.

As you become more motivated your reps will be harder, but you’ll be able to get more due to motivation. Your idea of reps left will scale with this.

Motor unit recruitment is a big part of how your muscles get a stimulus, this explains how it works, how different contractions change

www.poolefitness.com/p/what-is-motor-unit-recruitment

One of the best things you can do when you’ve finished a set of xyz is to make a note of the RPE/RIR.

If you use the Strong app to track your workouts (Fletcher approved) they’ve got an option to do this when you write your reps in.

The more you pay attention to RIR the better you’ll get at predicting it, and it’ll help you work out if you should increase/decrease weight based on last time.

And yes, you don’t know if your predictions are right yet. Start taking some sets to failure in order to make sure your “1 rep from failure” isn’t 6 reps from failure…

However, there is one big trade off when we increase intensity. You’re going to get more short-lived, and sustained fatigue. This will be a problem if your program sucks.

Luckily you’re using my workout plan here 🙄 

i've made you a workout you can follow

www.poolefitness.com/p/upper-lower-workout-program-fletcher-poole

I know I typically recommend people train at 0-1 RIR, but it doesn’t have to be the only way.

Due to joint issues, energy levels, ability to push hard, etc. some people might want to stay a little further away, and that’s fine.

So long as you’re training within 3 reps of failure I’m completely okay with that. even if it’s not what i’d recommend

Remember, the only reps that cause growth are the ones where you see involuntary concentric slowdown. Not all reps are causing growth.

Learn here why there’s only ~5 reps that can cause growth in any set.

(Mechanical Tension)

www.poolefitness.com/p/the-signal-for-muscle-growth

That being said you’ll have to scale sets to get the same out of a workout, and it’d be wise to mess with rep ranges in order to decrease fatigue.

Here’s a table you can use to work out how much power each set has.

Reps from Failure

Potential “Hypertrophic Reps”

Rep Range Recommendations

0

~5

5-8

1

~4

4-6

2

~3

3-6

3

~2

2-5

4

~1

1-4

When I recommend 4-6 sets a week for a muscle, I’m referring to those 0 reps from failure sets. I’m recommending ~20-30 “Hypertrophic Reps”

Remember, if you’re working further from failure, you HAVE to do more work as you’re not able to get as many of those “Hypertrophic Reps” in, regardless of how many reps you do.

That being the case I’ve made a table that’ll give you an example of how many sets you’d have to do with each intensity. Usually you’d end up mixing and matching intensities, this just displays the info.

Reps from Failure

Sets to Get 20-30 “Hypertrophic Reps”

0

~ 4-6

1

~ 5-7.5

2

~ 7-10

3

~ 10-15

4

~ 20-30

It’s clear if you value your time you want to be working as closely to 0/1 as possible.

All that being said let’s completely overwrite what I was saying about making training numerical and instead talk about some psychological stuff that’ll make you TRAIN HARDER.

  1. A workout that isn’t muddled with fatigue

  2. Music

  3. Good goal setting

  4. Competition

  5. Picking your own exercises this is also why i let you do it when you use my workout skeleton

  6. Recording your sets

  7. Showing people sets you recorded

  8. Getting off your phone when you work out

  9. Caffeine/stimulants

  10. Being highly motivated

The science/rationale behind why this stuff works

When you’re properly locked in, the training will be arbitrarily “intense”

www.poolefitness.com/p/what-is-motor-unit-recruitment

Training intensity is a skill, I don’t expect you to perfect this overnight.

If you stay driven and work on both your psychological side to training, and the perception side, you’ll get there.

Keep on pushing your limits and soon your 3 RIR will be your warmup.

Make sure to track everything, record what you can, and stay focused.

Your Hypertrophy Hero,
Fletcher

P.S. On my store I still have my acclimation phase which will supercharge and lock in your ability to detect intensity. Give it a go if you feel like taking that leap https://store.poolefitness.com/l/acclimation-phase-framework

Reply

or to participate.