INTENSITY, MEET TECHNIQUE

Earlier this week, I released a post about intensity which basically called for more speed in all you do. I’m following that post up because a very common question that people immediately come to is:
Do you want me to move fast? Or do you want me to do it right?
Yes. The answer is yes.
Intensity, meet technique.
Imagine I asked you to run down to the corner grocery store to grab me a head of kale for tonight’s dinner. But imagine the following stipulation: you have to do the worm the whole way there and the whole way back (you know, the dance move were you roll from chest to stomach to feet again and again). Imagine yourself flopping around on the sidewalk trying to get from point A to point B. Admittedly, I presume, this is a bad way to travel. In this scenario, you’re expressing a ridiculous amount of energy and getting very little return on your investment.
Now imagine I said you could stand up as nature intended and walk to and from the store. It’s not surprising you prefer this method of travel – by walking you’re expressing relatively little energy, and relative to the worm, you’re getting an awful lot of work done.
Now tell me, what is the thing which connects your first, high-energy, low return effort with the second low energy, high return effort?
Drumroll please… TECHNIQUE!
It’s true that when you’re in the middle of your workout, you need to push yourself. But let’s be very, very clear about something: pushing yourself doesn’t always mean you should move faster. Being a spaz but moving poorly is not a balance we’re willing to strike. In fact, just as often as increasing your speed we want you to work smarter, cleaner, more efficiently. In the long run, the intensity you bring your workouts will dictate the pace and degree of your results. But never forget that the technique you bring to your workouts will enable you to preserve your intensity for longer periods of time and, most importantly, with reduced risk of injury.
That, my Alchemy-loving friends is what we call a win-win.
Happy training.