Sunday, July 21, 2013

Are High Intensity Interval Training Workouts Designed For Fat Loss Or For Lean Muscle Growth?

By Russ Hollywood


Learning how to build muscle is often a game of chance and opinion, with what works for one guy often not quite working for another. However, there are a few benchmark pieces of advice which have been proven by modern science when it comes to building mass and losing fat, one of which is high intensity interval training.

The old approach, of course, is to do a resistance session and then jump on a bike for some light cardiovascular work to get yourself into the so-called 'fat burning zone'. []

This has now been proven incorrect, as the benefits of modern science have become very important to many professionals within the fitness industry. Thanks to these benefits, we can now see that HIIT is indeed one of the best approaches when it comes to both fat loss and lean gains.

You read that correctly - performing a HIIT workout has been proven by modern science to burn off more calories and promote more lean muscle growth than regular, steady state cardio. If you find the prospect of an hour on the bike to be pretty dull, then this discovery should really appeal to you.

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.

While regular cardiovascular exercise is good for your heart and certainly still has it's value, high intensity interval training is superior for both fat loss and lean muscle gains. If your goal is to learn the most effective ways to build muscle this year, then HIIT is certainly something you should be trying very soon.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment