Can High Intensity Interval Training Be Used To Build Lean Muscle?

By Russ Hollywood


With high intensity interval training becoming one of the hot trends of the last few years in the fitness industry there is one burning question which most gym enthusiasts want to ask - can you build muscle and maintain it with HIIT?

For almost a decade, HIIT has been restricted to those who want to lose fat while the people at your local gym stuck with regular cardio work. []

If you are trying to gain size you can get fooled into believing you only need to work hard on the weights, or that cardio work is dull and boring. However, recent studies show that muscle gains were massively increased thanks to the incorporation of HIIT into weekly resistance workouts in place of dull, regular cardiovascular activity.

That's right, performing a high intensity cardio workout is actually superior not only for burning fat but also for building lean tissue! While this is probably music to the ears of all those gym enthusiasts who find cardiovascular activity to be somewhat dull, it does come with a few warnings.

The next discovery may well shock you to your core if you are a long-term gym user. Cardiovascular activity should be performed before a resistance training, as opposed to afterwards. Not only will this increase your fat loss results, but it will also improve muscle retention as well. Let the magnitude of that fact sink in for a moment, because over 90% of gym members insist upon doing their cardio work after they're finished on the weights.

The study which discovered this information was actually completed back in 2001, but was under-reported in the media at the time. As a result it has gone largely unnoticed by the general population and most fitness instructors, who still follow the old belief that doing cardio work before a weights workout will fatigue the muscles.

Of course, it is also important to discuss the increased difficulty which will be served up by a HIIT workout in comparison to regular, steady state endurance exercise. You won't be able to do this every day of the week, particularly if you are also doing resistance training. That's actually a good though, though, as it will allow your body to recuperate fully.

Furthermore, research shows that high intensity interval training burns of 6 times as much fat as regular cardiovascular activity, making it a sensible choice if you are trying to figure out how to build muscle while maximizing your fat loss in the process.




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