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

By Russ Hollywood


Unless you have been living under a rock for the last three-to-four years, you have probably already heard about high intensity interval training. However, one of the biggest questions surrounding this training method is quite difficult to find an honest answer to - can you build lean muscle with it or is it reserved for fat loss workouts?

For years, it was believed that performing high intensity cardiovascular activity was a sure-fire way to waste all of your efforts when it came to lifting weights. []

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.

If you are one of the many people who finds their cardiovascular activity to be somewhat dull and repetitive, the discovery that HIIT can burn significantly more fat while also retaining lean muscle in a superior way to regular cardio should ring like a church bell. This is the news you have been waiting for, after all. Finally, you don't have to sit on the bike for an hour five times per week!

If you are going to make the most of this great training method you need to understand a little about how it works. How many times have you seen bodybuilders jump onto bikes after a weight lifting session and pedal for upwards of 45 minutes to burn off body fat? This approach is now also considered to be yesterday's advice. Not only should they be doing high intensity cardio, they should be doing it prior to their weights. If you have been training for a while, this news will probably be a major shock to you because despite the fact there's a wealth of proof to back this approach up, most people do their cardiovascular work after resistance training.

The fascinating study which discovered this was completed by Dr. Peter Lemon back in 2001 thanks to a fascinating Canadian project. This study was then grossly under-reported in fitness circles, causing it to go unnoticed by the general public. In theory, it should alter the way almost everybody trains in the gym.

One of the worst mistakes made with HIIT is the temptation to overdo it. Suddenly you have this wonderful fat loss tool in your hands and you will want to use it all the time. It's only beneficial when you are at your full ability, so try to limit your HIIT workouts to no more than four days of the week on average.

If you have been trying to learn how to build muscle in the gym but were perhaps unsure of high intensity interval training due to the fat loss stigma which is attached to it, you need not worry. HIIT has been proven to retain lean muscle mass in a far superior way to regular cardiovascular activity, allowing you to slot it into your program and get the best of both worlds.




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