Unbreakable Mind & Body

Intensity: The Secret Ingredient for Fitness Results

• Tiana Gonzalez • Episode 21

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Ever gone to the gym, completed your workout, and walked away feeling like you didn't really do anything? You're not alone. This frustrating experience stems from a critical missing element in most fitness routines: intensity.

Drawing from nearly three decades as a fitness professional, I unpack why so many workouts fall flat despite consistent gym attendance. The truth is that showing up isn't enough – what matters is how you engage during those precious minutes of training. Your phone might be the primary culprit sabotaging your results, along with selecting weights that don't adequately challenge your muscles.

In this episode, I dive into the physiological stimulus needed for change – expanding the edges of your comfort zone with each training session.

For women especially, I tackle the persistent myth about "getting bulky" from lifting weights. This misunderstanding prevents countless women from training with appropriate intensity, ironically keeping them from achieving the very "toned" physique they desire. 


Ready to transform your fitness approach? Try implementing these three game-changers: minimize phone distractions during workouts, select truly challenging weights, and maintain mental focus throughout each exercise. Your body will respond when you finally give it the intensity it needs to change. Got questions? Reach out - I'm here to help you build your unbreakable mind and body.

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Disclaimer: This show is for education and entertainment purposes only. This is not intended as a replacement for therapy. Please seek out the help of a professional to assist you with your specific situation.


Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Unbreakable Mind and Body podcast. I am your host, tiana Gonzalez, a multi-passionate, creative storyteller and entrepreneur with a fierce love for movement. This is our space for powerful stories and actionable strategies to help you build mental resilience and elevate your self-care practice. Together, we will unlock the tools that you need to create an unbreakable mind and body. Welcome back to the show. I am your host, tiana, and on this episode, we're going to talk about all things intensity, host Tiana, and on this episode, we're going to talk about all things intensity. Now, lifting with intensity is the secret ingredient in catalyzing change. And I specifically say lifting with intensity because this episode will be primarily focused around physical activity, lifting weights, and what I want to share with you is some insight, reflections and some tips that you can implement right away to elevate your personal fitness, health and wellness. Now, if you're new here, I'm a fitness professional with almost 30 years of experience. I got my start in high school after being frustrated with my weight. I was a ballet dancer, I was in a company and I was so sick and tired of being in this body that I didn't love. I joined spring track my junior year of high school and that really was the catalyst that, combined with my mom, who was an aerobics instructor and personal trainer, she taught me all about lifting weights and nutrition at a very young age. So I definitely had a head start. I was ahead of the curve because in high school I was eating things like sliced bell peppers with chicken breast, not eating processed foods and focusing on what I could put in my body to help me not only look better but feel better. I got my start in bodybuilding shows in 1999, started my first prep, did it for almost 14 years and throughout that time there was a lot of ups and downs. I decided to take all of the experiences and knowledge that I got on my own physique and wellness and turn it into something that I could teach others. So that's really how I got my start here.

Speaker 1:

But enough about me, because what I really want to talk about is this recurring conversation that I've been having with clients over and over and over again, that they come to the gym to work out, not with me, like in between our sessions, and they feel like they're not really doing anything. Excuse me, what are you talking about? I hear this all the time. Yeah, I came to the gym, I did upper body, but I don't know. I felt like I didn't do anything. I'm not sore. I didn't feel like I got my heart rate up. I didn't break a sweat. I'm not feeling exhausted. I'm not laying in the fetal position at the end of the workout Pause.

Speaker 1:

All my people who do CrossFit, orange Theory, barry's, know what I'm talking about and there's no shade on any of those boutiques or modalities of fitness. However, we are focused on creating healthy bodies and strong bodies. So, yes, cardio is important for heart health and I do cardio routinely and I'm an advocate of it. However, when we're thinking about long-term fitness, being a strong, robust body and having bone density, okay, you've got to lift weights, and you've got to lift weights in a specific way so that you can grow your muscles and nurture your bones, and this is where intensity comes up.

Speaker 1:

Now you might know this about me already, but I am someone who loves the Do Not Disturb feature on my phone. In fact, I use it every day and even when I'm working out and I don't want to be interrupted. I don't want notifications. I don't want to hear any sounds other than the amazing techno music that I'm most likely listening to while I'm training. I do still have to look at my phone, because that's where my workout is. It's in an app and I will tell you more often than not that that's going to be the number one. Culprit is managing your phone, or attention to the phone during your workout.

Speaker 1:

Now the next thing you want to consider is what kind of weights are you using and how are you feeling specifically during your set, during the workout? So we've got to get really specific here, because we can talk in broad strokes but that might not serve you. That might not help you. So while you're thinking about your workout okay and you're lifting weights, let's say you're doing shoulders. You want to develop a nice sculpted upper body. You want to have shoulders that lead you right into nice sculpted arms, right.

Speaker 1:

So while you're lifting, let's say you're doing lateral raises with dumbbells and the rep range that's called out in the workout. The prescription, if you will, that's called out in the workout. The prescription, if you will, is eight to 10 reps and you're going to do four sets of that with a 60 second to 90 second rest in between each set. Well, what does that mean really? Because for somebody who's just getting started, their question is going to be. Well, what weight should I use? And the person who wrote the workout really can't tell you that without knowing you, without watching you, without working with you for a while, without knowing if you have any injuries or any areas of concern or things to look out for, or they don't know your experience level.

Speaker 1:

But when we give you a rep range, we're leaving it up to you to decide. I want you to pick a weight that when you get to rep number eight, you feel like you're almost done or you're pretty much done. But then you're going to trust yourself and you're going to try to do another rep. So let's go for that ninth rep, okay. And then, if you complete it successfully without breaking your form too much, maybe you squeak out another rep. You are so tapped out that you cannot wait to put those dumbbells down and take your rest.

Speaker 1:

So, just in that small scenario, there are a couple of things I want you to think about. Do you feel that way when you're doing your workout, whatever it is, doesn't matter what body part or exercise or what tool when you have that rep range and you get to the top numbers of the rep range like eight, nine, 10, are you tapped out. Do you want to give up? Are you ready to let go of those weights? Are you completely fried? Because if the answer is no, that's an indicator that means you probably could go up in weight, and that will help catalyze change. That will stimulate muscular hypertrophy. That will get us moving in the direction that we want.

Speaker 1:

Now, the next thing I want to point out is I said you can't wait to get rid of those weights. Put them down on the floor and take your rest period. So you should be working out so intensely, word of the day, that you're looking forward to your rest period and maybe you need to sit down. Maybe you don't even want to look at your phone, you don't want to talk to anybody because you're out of breath. So these are two different things that you need to be paying attention to the next time you're working out, because there's a specific science here. What are we doing exactly when we're pushing that eight to 10 rep range? Well, picture yourself inside of a circle, and that circle is your comfort zone, and what I'm challenging you to do is to flirt right with the edge, because if you can continue to press upon the edge, eventually you will get stronger and you will be able to stay at that heavier weight and maybe in a few months or a few years you'll look back and say, wow, remember when I was doing those lateral raises I could only do eight pounds, eight pound dumbbells, one in each hand standing, and now I can do 15s. That's almost double.

Speaker 1:

Where are you mentally when you're executing your set? Are you thinking about the chores you have to do? Are you thinking about your grocery list? Are you thinking about what's going on with your kid's homework assignment, or are you focused on you? Now, I am not saying that none of those things are important. Of course they are. But remember, in the moment you came to the gym for a reason you came to do one thing. So can we prioritize that one thing just for a short period of time maybe 45 minutes, maybe an hour, maybe an hour and 10, so that you can be effective? We are not trying to spin our wheels. We are not trying to stay in the gym all day and all night. I mean maybe you are. The gym where I work is fabulous. There are a lot of amenities, there's an outdoor pool, there's a cafe, there's a workspace. But going back to that workout and going back to being intentional and taking deliberate action.

Speaker 1:

I want you to really assess where you're at right now and when I'm making these suggestions, I don't want you to think to yourself oh well, tiana said I should do this or I should do that. Let's remove the word should. The word should has a little bit of a negative energy, like vibrating right underneath it, and I am not trying to make you feel badly. I want to encourage you. I want these things to be suggestions that you try. It's kind of like a recipe and someone says well, you're making sauce with tomatoes. I like to put a little bit of sugar in there because it cuts the acidity. You never heard that before. Maybe you'll try it, maybe you'll love it, maybe you'll hate it, maybe you'll try it a few times until you get the right dose. And that's really what we're doing here. That's what this conversation is about.

Speaker 1:

You're not seeing change, you're not feeling anything. You feel like you're spinning your wheels. Now, for my ladies in the house, do not tell me you're worried about getting bulky. I am so tired of hearing that nonsense. When you work out and you are lifting weights and you're pushing yourself with heavier weight selections if you feel bulky nine times out of 10, what that is is muscle soreness or water being stored in your muscles. Flush it out. Drink more water, you will flush it out.

Speaker 1:

Now, yes, we are all shaped differently. Our bodies are all inclined to do slightly different things For some of us. We don't like that feeling of soreness, we don't like that feeling of fullness, we don't like that bigness. But the more you do the same thing and stay consistent with it, the less of an inflammatory response you will get when it comes to the lifting weights, maybe not with the soreness, but with the feeling of like fullness, or you know, your arms being pumped up or your legs being pumped up and you don't like it. That's really where we have to start looking at the diet. So if you want to lift weights and get stronger and you're concerned about getting bigger, I would encourage you to take a look at your diet and what you're doing outside of the gym to help reduce inflammation, to help keep yourself long and lean and strong, because that's how you're going to catalyze change. When women tell me they want to get quote unquote toned, they don't want to get bulky, they have no idea what they're talking about and it's not their fault. Marketing and media has brainwashed us into thinking that you can develop muscle in a different way. You're either developing muscle or you're not. It's very black and white, okay, how you do. It can be colorful. You need to lift weights, you need to be intentional, and I am so sorry, but if you are somebody who does these group classes, that's not lifting weights, that's doing cardio with a little bit of weights mixed in. Okay.

Speaker 1:

So to recap the main points of this episode number one managing your attention during the workout. Are you on your phone a lot? Can you put the phone on? Do not disturb. Can you be more present, not only during the set but throughout the entire workout session? Number two what weights are you selecting in your workout and are they challenging enough to catalyze change? And number three how are you completing your workout Meaning? Are you being intentional during each exercise and during each set and during each rep? With that, I'm going to leave this episode here. If you have any questions or you need more support, please check the show notes to find out how to get in touch with me. Thank you for being here. I appreciate you and I will catch you on the next one.