Though you can spend hours at the gym, simply lifting heavy weights every day is not going to build the body to perfection. With HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training, bodybuilders incorporate bursts of intense exercise with low-impact cardiovascular activities.
When exercisers create stress on the body, using a mix of high and low intensities, muscle tends to grow more quickly.
Slow and steady doesn’t do it
Exercise enthusiasts who spend an hour on the treadmill, followed by 100 sit-up repetitions, are not doing much toward their muscle-building goals. In fact, steady cardiovascular exercises, such as jogging five miles, actually lowers testosterone and muscle fiber levels.
Testosterone is directly linked to muscle growth, so reduced hormone levels mean deteriorated muscles. As a side effect, metabolism slows and calorie burn is much lower.
Bodybuilders need high levels of testosterone to accelerate muscle growth. Although exercise invigorates natural testosterone releases, it’s not enough for serious bodybuilders who want professional results.
HIIT increases energy efficiency
As bodybuilders move between high- and low-intensity repetitions, the body’s cells improve in energy efficiency. Inside each cell are mitochondria, the organelles in charge of cellular respiration and energy production.
Even after a HIIT workout, the cells are still responding to the exercise stress with heightened mitochondria activity. As a result, more muscle fibers grow to balance the stress of the next workout.
Essentially, the body wants to be ready with more muscles to combat fatigue and muscle damage in the future. Natural muscle growth continues with strategic HIIT workouts.
Simple science
The body consumes a lot of oxygen as it employs a HIIT workout. Low-intensity portions help bodybuilders recover from the high-intensity sessions, but the heart rate remains at a high level. The cells take in oxygen with better efficiency during each workout because of the increase in mitochondrial production.
Each progressively harder workout tells the body it needs more muscle for the next time. If a bodybuilder continues with the HIIT program, natural muscle builds, assuming the athlete maintains a healthy diet.
Carve out your workout
Circuit training is one of the best interval workouts for natural muscle growth. Each bodybuilder has a different perspective on his or her workout, of course, but a mixture of resistance, cardiovascular, and abdominal training in a 30- or 60-minute session is optimal for increased metabolism.
For example, dedicate three minutes to resistance training, two minutes to cardiovascular moves, and one minute on abdominals. Repeating this workout strategy three to six times in a row gives you an intense workout with a minimum of rest on the low-intensity areas. Try to space out your workouts; do them on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for example. Your body has a chance to heal between workouts and steadily grow muscle.
Now that the Designer Steroid Control Act of 2014 is being evaluated by Congress, many bodybuilders are looking for alternative ways to build muscle. Although performance enhancing drugs are a viable option for bodybuilders, you can try alternative ways to achieve muscle-growing success.
One week of HIIT workouts can turn a struggling bodybuilder into a growing star.
Originally posted on March 14, 2014 @ 10:25 am