The best training program in the world is absolutely worthless without the will to execute it properly, consistently, and with intensity.

Strictly speaking, intensity in the weight training context refers to the amount of work required to achieve the activity and is proportional to the mass of the weights being lifted - that is, how heavy the weight is relative to how strong you are.

If your diet is dialed in, you can train in a pretty subpar manner and still get passable results. On the other hand, if your training is fantastic but your diet is crap, you have a harder road ahead of you.

I've often said that while gaining muscle can be very difficult, it's also pretty simple - at the heart of it, you just need to take in more energy than you expend, and use an intelligent program. This is especially true for beginners.

Awareness without action is worthless.

The intensity numbers, if properly measured, are really important. Preference numbers don't amount to much because without intensity, the preference doesn't motivate anybody to act.