The Blues have bowed out in the first week of the past two finals campaigns, moving senior figures at the club including president Stephen Kernahan to publicly state that nothing less than a finals victory would suffice in 2011.
In a move reminiscent of Alastair Clarkson's 'unsociable' Hawks, Brett Ratten has demanded greater intensity from his players over the summer as part of his plan to progress further into September.
"We've had what I would say is a ruthless approach to this pre-season," Armfield said from AFL House on Tuesday.
"The boys have worked really well to put on a bit of size and bulk up a bit in the muscle department.
"It's my fourth season now and [the intensity] has definitely stepped up again. I think we were disappointed with how things finished off in the last two years so we've tried to really focus on taking it that one step further this year.
"Intensity has been a big factor in our training and that will follow through to round one and so on throughout the year."
Armfield is confident the players will not be burdened by the lofty expectations of club powerbrokers and fans alike.
"We put that expectation on ourselves. [We've had] two disappointing finals losses, but we are getting up there [into the eight]," he said.
"As a club we want to reach the highest level like Collingwood did last year and to do that we've got to progress further.
"We put that pressure on ourselves and the pre-season that we've had so far has put us in good stead."
Evidence of that new approach was on offer during the Blues' last intra-club match, which saw a heated exchange between teammates Jarrad Waite and Paul Bower.
"It's good to see Jarrad Waite backing up his teammate in Shaun Hampson and in response it's good to see Paul Bower have the ruthless approach to stand up for himself," Armfield said of the incident.
"As a team we don't like to fight amongst one another, but you we also like to stand up for one another. That's probably what we've been taught this whole pre-season … just have a fair dinkum crack and what will eventuate will eventuate."
Carlton kicks off its NAB Cup campaign against Collingwood and Richmond at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
