But Your Exercise is so Strenuous

When i show you explosive movements like kettlebell swings and invite you to join me, what would you think?



I bet more than one of you would say "but your exercise is so strenuous", or if you are more blunt "i think it is too strenuous for me therefore no thanks".

But is that just your perception or the reality? Can we quantify what is strenuous? To put it more specifically, can we quantify intensity? What are the some of the factors that affect intensity?

In this article, i hope to address some of these questions and remove the apprehension that some may have regarding proper exercise.

Resistance

Which is more intense, lifting 10kg or 100kg? Obviously the answer is 100kg. Manipulating resistance is one of the easiest way to changing intensity.

Volume

This refers to the total work done. Assuming you are running at a fixed pace, which is more intense, running 1km or 10km? Obviously the answer is 10km.

Even if you run slow enough, at an enough volume, it would feel intense. An example is marathon.

Pace or tempo

This refers to the frequency of the exercise being done. Assuming you are doing a total of 100 push ups. Which is more intense, 1 push up every minute for 100 minutes or 1 push up every 4 seconds for 400 seconds? Obviously 1 push up every 4 seconds.

Rest periods

Related to the point above. Assuming you are doing 10 sets of 10 push ups. Which is more intense, 1 hour rest between sets or 1 minute rest between sets? Obviously the answer is 1 minute rest.

Motor complexity (sophistication)

This refers to how complex are the movements used in the workout. This one has not such a straightforward answer as all the other variables. But we'll still attempt to compare like with like.

Which is more intense:
1) 10 pull ups followed by 10 dips or
2) 10 muscle ups? A muscle up is a pull up and a dip combined.



Though the resistance is the same, and the volume is the same, most people would agree that the muscle ups are more intense. Why is that so? A simple explanation is that because the nervous system has to work harder because of the higher level of motor complexity.

So back to our issue "but your exercise is so strenuous". I have received this comment from people looking solely at the movement, ie before even considering resistance, tempo, rest period etc.

So it is clear that in their mind, the more complex the movement is, the more intense is the exercise.

I am going to tell you that this is not true. All of the variables i listed above play a part in determining intensity, ie they are all inter-related.

Let's take an example. Soccer vs marathon. It is obvious that soccer involves more skill than just running, ie soccer skills are more complex than running. But anybody who has common sense would tell you that playing an hour of soccer is easier than completing a marathon.

Other examples would be speaking, writing, typing, driving, playing musical instruments. These are skills much more complex than kettlebell lifting, yet a big majority of the population engage in them. Are they strenuous activities?

So what to do? In the above example, i purposely choose an apple vs orange comparison because in real life that is how people compare things. Kettlebell lifting is compared with other more common sports and is perceived to be "more strenuous".

What makes you think that kettlebell lifting is more strenuous than marathon? I think marathon is more strenous than kettlebell lifting.

To put a stop to all ambiguity, we'll use a quantifiable measure. Assign a number to the intensity and we can compare like with like. This number is the Rate of Perceived Effort (RPE). This is the subjective measure of the performer of the movement on what is the effort he/she exerts. On a scale of 0 to 10, 0 being no intensity, 1 minimal and 10 maximal.

Taking the soccer vs marathon example again. An hour of recreational soccer maybe would have a variable RPE of 6 maybe 7 (moderate). A marathon would likely be a 10 (high) for most mere mortals.

Is it a perfect measure? By no means, but it makes for a more meaningful comparison between different activities.

So if i am doing my kettlebell practice and my RPE for that session is 5 (moderate), is it strenuous?