There is so much conflicting advice in the gym that most people find it almost impossible to learn how to build muscle effectively. One of the biggest areas of concern surrounds HIIT.
Today we're going to be looking at this form of cardiovascular exercise and answering the all important question. Is it good for hypertrophy?
When it comes to cardio exercise, the fact is most guys don't do enough of it. They're happy to throw around the weights three times per week but if you offer them the opportunity to jump onto a treadmill or exercise bike they'll not be anywhere near as keen.
This is largely because there is a false mentality in most gyms that cardio is for girls. Most guys deem it too boring and not engaging enough.
However, if your primary goal is hypertrophy you are the exact type of person who should be performing regular cardiovascular workouts and one of the best forms of this is high intensity interval training. Not only is it great for fat loss, it'll also help you to build more lean tissue.
There is a massive difference between the steady pace of regular cardio, often billed as boring, compared to that of a high intensity session. Despite being performed on the same equipment, it's a completely different style of workout.
High intensity interval training is based around constantly switching between moderate and high intensities, causing your body to tap into both it's aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. There are striking similarities between an interval training session and a resistance workout.
First of all, which energy system does your body use when you are training with weights? Your anaerobic energy system. During any high intensity interval workout you'll be tapping into the exact same energy resource.
Due to the fact that our body uses the same energy system during interval training as we do for resistance workouts, we actually burn calories in the same way. You may have already heard that a resistance workout causes your body to continue burning calories at an increased rate for hours after you leave the gym. This also happens with interval training, whereas regular cardio doesn't have these 'afterburn' benefits.
Over the years it has been proven that HIIT helps you to lose more body fat than regular cardio workouts. If you are trying to figure out how to build muscle you should also be including this type of training in your workouts, as it has been proven that short bursts of high intensity activity will tap into your body's anaerobic energy system and make it easier for you to experience muscular hypertrophy.
Today we're going to be looking at this form of cardiovascular exercise and answering the all important question. Is it good for hypertrophy?
When it comes to cardio exercise, the fact is most guys don't do enough of it. They're happy to throw around the weights three times per week but if you offer them the opportunity to jump onto a treadmill or exercise bike they'll not be anywhere near as keen.
This is largely because there is a false mentality in most gyms that cardio is for girls. Most guys deem it too boring and not engaging enough.
However, if your primary goal is hypertrophy you are the exact type of person who should be performing regular cardiovascular workouts and one of the best forms of this is high intensity interval training. Not only is it great for fat loss, it'll also help you to build more lean tissue.
There is a massive difference between the steady pace of regular cardio, often billed as boring, compared to that of a high intensity session. Despite being performed on the same equipment, it's a completely different style of workout.
High intensity interval training is based around constantly switching between moderate and high intensities, causing your body to tap into both it's aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. There are striking similarities between an interval training session and a resistance workout.
First of all, which energy system does your body use when you are training with weights? Your anaerobic energy system. During any high intensity interval workout you'll be tapping into the exact same energy resource.
Due to the fact that our body uses the same energy system during interval training as we do for resistance workouts, we actually burn calories in the same way. You may have already heard that a resistance workout causes your body to continue burning calories at an increased rate for hours after you leave the gym. This also happens with interval training, whereas regular cardio doesn't have these 'afterburn' benefits.
Over the years it has been proven that HIIT helps you to lose more body fat than regular cardio workouts. If you are trying to figure out how to build muscle you should also be including this type of training in your workouts, as it has been proven that short bursts of high intensity activity will tap into your body's anaerobic energy system and make it easier for you to experience muscular hypertrophy.
About the Author:
Bio: Russ Howe PTI is an established personal trainer who shows people how to build muscle in the gym. His complete guide to hiit will help you to increase fat loss quickly.
