Discussion: intensity level #4

1,2,3,5 - all very straightforward to me. But how many times have you wished there was at least a low, medium and high intensity 4? At that level, to me personally, there's a world of difference between a low 4 and a high 4, and one that I care more about than the nuances of the lower levels.

This one goes to eleven.

...how many times...

Not once in the 4 realm or any of the others.

I'd opt for halving effort level as a somewhat better representation, eg, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5.

Powers that be?

Deciding what level to call a particular activity is always pretty subjective and varies from person to person. While I've sometimes debated whether I worked hard enough to call a particular activity a 3 or a 4 or a 5, I've always been pretty content to work within the existing system. While one person might think that 4 should have more gradients, another might just say, if it doesn't make a 4, call it a 3. And maybe instead of thinking that "4" needs some partial steps, they'd think that 3 or 2 needs some partial steps.

Pick what works best for you, and if necessary, use the notes section to elaborate.

Personally I use 3 for "normal" level running and biking. I use 4 and 5 rarely - 4 for anything significantly above normal level, and 5 only when I feel like I am at maximum exertion for all or almost most all of the activity - typically only for sprint and interval type training or sprint races, short road races, or rarely a middle distance event in fast terrain. But, I notice other people who classify any race or rogaine and most of their training as 5. That's how they choose to represent it, but I don't consider their 3 or 4 to be comparable to my 3 or 4.

I guess that conceivably you could add a decimal point to the ranking system and create a hundred or a thousand different intensity values. But how many do you really need? Five levels (actually six, since you can use "0") seems like plenty to me. I wouldn't want to have to choose to break it down any farther than that. But I guess if a decimal system was added, then individuals could choose whether to use it or not, just as some people now report their weight to the half pound, but I always round to the nearest pound.

If you can't fit your intensity into the existing five (or six) levels, you are thinking about it too much.

Simmo barely even uses the intensity rating; therefore it is unimportant, non-competitive and should be removed except for level 3 which is by far the most important rating. The ratings should therefore be 3, 3.01 - 3.99, 4, where the default is a value between 3.01 and 3.99 determined based on your age, weight, experience and three random parameters selected from a pool of fifteen.

tRicky has made some sense for once :)

He's probably still jet lagged.

Amazing wisdom from WA.

I agree with tRicky ... seems like you're overthinking it if you feel the need to take a 6-level (counting zero as a level) scale and break it down even further.

5 is often split into 5a, 5b, and 5c:

http://3-fitness.com/tarticles/zones.htm

And others use 1-10.

The current 6 is more than plenty for my needs.

what else is there to think about when your suffering? isnt that what AP is for? Oh, and to clarify, this concerns mostly running - I agree that it would truly be deadly to think about intensity levels too much while orienteering.

I think 5a, 5b, and 5c is pretty much what i was thinking about, only applying it to 4 and leaving 5 for something transcendant. thanks hughmac, those descriptions are very helpful.

For running, 5 levels are perfect when used with Danielesque paces:
5=R or F
4=I
3=T
2=E/L
1=junk

I guess a marathoner might promote I to 5, T to 4 and use 3 for MP.

I'm too old to do a 5, so 4 is as hard as I can go. In other words walk = 1, jog = 2, run = 3, race = 4.

what else is there to think about when your suffering?
spelling

Only proper use for 5 in a race is to throw up as you download. Oh that's the same thing. Done it only twice in finish shute and was worth it both times.
3 probably means I'm not trying hard enough unless injured and I shouldn't be exercising anyway.

The way I use it is:
1: Moving, but not particularly exerting.
2: Exercising with somebody slower than me.
3: Normal training or normal orienteering race pace.
4: Maximum barely sustainable pace, as for orienteering sprints.
5: Anaerobic stuff that can't be sustained for more than a minute or two.