Are you frustrated at the lack of progress you see in the gym? This is typically the case for people who want to lose weight or pack on some muscle mass. You go to the gym, you follow a routine, but you just can’t seem to reach your goals. Sure, you’ve improved, but there’s still that stubborn layer of belly fat or arms that look skinny.

While there are many reasons you can’t reach your goals, the most common is a lack of intensity. Intensity means that your workouts push you to the limit and make you work hard. This is how you see results; by going harder and harder each session. So, I’m going to leave you with a guide to adding more intensity to your workouts. Here’s a hint: it’s easier than you think!

Decrease rest periods

Take shorter rest periods between sets to up the intensity. If you wait three minutes between sets, your body has basically recovered. It’s not being pushed far enough, hence the lack of results. This is particularly true for people wanting to build muscle. Drop from two minutes to 45 seconds of rest, and you will see a difference.

Increase or decrease the time

Play around with your workout times to change the intensity of your sessions. If you increase it, you can add more exercise and do a more challenging routine. For example, instead of running for 30 minutes, run for a full hour.

Similarly, decreasing the time can also add some intensity. Here, it’s more about jamming in a lot of action into a smaller time frame. A great example of this is a HIIT workout. Here, you do a lot of activity in around 10 minutes. It provides a more intense session than if you did the same amount of work in 30 minutes.

Add more resistance

Adding resistance to a workout will always make it harder. For me, this is where I see most people fail. You become content to use the same weights all the time and reach a set number of reps. It’s not always your fault; I think many personal trainers are guilty of encouraging this. They set rep goals and are happy if you stick to them. If you easily get 12 reps out with your chosen weight, it’s time to increase things. Ideally, you should be almost failing on the last rep or so. This is when you know you’ve upped the intensity to the max!

We’ve just spoken about increasing the weight, but there are other ways to add more resistance. Resistance bands are great for bodyweight exercises; running up a hill instead of running flat adds cardio resistance. You could also use unilateral movements to provide resistance from external forces. Lunging is harder than squatting because your body has to resist the forces trying to topple it over.

Prepare better

How many of you will genuinely do a proper warmup before a workout? Most of you are shaking your heads, which is part of the problem. Good preparation sets you up for a more intense session. Warmups increase the blood flow in your body and prime you for the exercises ahead. This allows you to attack them with more energy and intensity. Speaking of which, you might consider having an espresso before going to the gym for a nice hit of caffeine.

Recover smarter

Similarly, your recovery routine is just as important. Poor recovery means you are too sore to workout the next day. This means you either don’t exercise or you take it easy. Instead, follow a good recovery routine to ease muscle soreness and be ready to attack your next workout. You can take protein shakes, use things like CBD gummies for pain to reduce the muscle soreness, etc. To help you get started, here’s an excellent video of a fantastic recovery routine:

While we’re talking about your recovery methods, it’s worth saying that you should target different muscle groups every day. If you train legs on Monday, train arms on Tuesday, then chest on Wednesday, etc. Or, do cardio one day, weights the next, and so on. This aids your recovery by giving your muscles more time to repair themselves while also letting you work on a different body part.

Follow this blueprint if you want to see results in just a few weeks. Of course, combine your intense exercise regime with a healthy diet. All of this is null and void if you’re filling your mouth with garbage food! Sort out the diet, then work on upping the intensity of your workouts.