Exercise Basics Lesson 1: Understanding Exercise Intensity

david glover vineman triathlon swim finish
school of tri and endurance sports

Questions?

Please contact us.

So What is Exercise Intensity?

“The body conforms and adapts to the intensities and directions it is habitually subjected to.”— Wolfe’s Law

In triathlon and other endurance sports, training intensity – or how hard the effort is – is typically described by terms such as aerobic, sub-threshold, lactate threshold, VO2 and recovery. Training at different levels of intensity stimulates different training responses in the body. Training at higher intensities (typically performed as intervals) is an effective tool to maximize training time so that your training becomes more specific to your goal event while minimizing the risk of overtraining, burnout and injury.

The following video will help you better understand intensity while discussing four different ways to measure your intensity.

Video: Understanding Exercise Intensity