Losing Fat While Building Muscle With Hiit

HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is an absolutely amazing tool for body recomposition and is vastly superior to traditional steady state cardio in every way, shape and form. For one, just 20 minutes of HIIT 2-3 times per week reaps the benefits of over an hour of traditional cardio five times per week in terms of fat burning alone. But unlike traditional cardio, HIIT is not catabolic, but rather anabolic, which means it leads to an increase rather than a loss of muscle. HIIT inhibits the mTOR pathway which aids in muscle growth, but also it coincides with increased levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and testosterone. I feel that HIIT in conjunction with intermittent fasting (also an mTOR and HGH inhibitor) is what has helped me to build muscle so easily without spending insane amounts of time at the gym. People have said that HIIT creates a sort of natural steroid-like effect in terms of its anabolic benefits, and the article below by John Kiefer does a great job highlighting the benefits of both high-intensity cardio, as well as high-intensity strength training.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hiit-can-get-you-huge-especially-if-you-are-meathead.html

My HIIT routine is as follows: On an stationary bike, following a five-minute warm-up, I begin the first of eight 30-second intervals. Each interval is followed by a 90-second cool down where I peddle at a brisk but steady pace until the next 30-second interval begins. I repeat this cycle for a total of 8 times, for a total of around 25 minutes, where only four minutes of the twenty-five are spent doing high-intensity.

It is brutal as hell, and definitely not for everyone, but when you are finished you feel on top of the world and have one amazing endorphin high which lasts the entire day.

Anyone looking to get lean while building muscle should strongly consider giving HIIT a try.

Here is a video from Dr. Joseph Mercola who demonstrates an HIIT workout which is pretty much exactly the same as what I described above.

http://youtu.be/_NmNS75w9hI

 

I need to get back into Hiit, but ive had a weird work schedule the past week so i havent really had a chance. When things return to normal after tommorwo ill probably head to the park. When i used to do it for running it was really intense. i would only do about 5-6 sets but my legs would really feel it.

 

5 or 6 is great for starters. Getting past 3 or 4 is hard for a lot of people at first, that is considering you're really going all out. Basically an interval done right leaves you gasping for air after the 3rd or 4th set, and leaves you completely drenched with sweat by the 6th or 7th. Some nights I can only do 6 or 7, but I try to aim for 8 most of the time because otherwise it drives me nuts for the rest of the night if I fail to complete all eight.

Also, you can take more time between sets if you need if, even if it's 3 or 4 minutes. The benefit is still there.

 

This was eerily similar to an infomercial.

 

Paleo with the exercise thing as well, 30 minutes of agro on a bike isnt going to make up for 10 hrs of sitting on your ass

Walking is the best exercise for humans, 8 hrs a day, thats how we evolved

 

from my understanding, it seems like the popular versions of HIIT are more like 30 seconds going hard, 10 or 20 seconds rest. so you're saying that longer breaks are better? or it doesn't really matter? this may have been answered in the video, but i'm not going to sit through 11 minutes of youtube right now.

sex is the best exercise, but that's way more expensive than even the best gym.

 

I don't see how 30/10 would even be possible unless you're not really going full intensity or are an Olympic sprinter and have off-the-wall endurance. I would say 90 seconds is the most common rest time, though some might take it down to 60 seconds while doing 20 second intervals. It's better to focus more on really going balls to the wall on each interval rather than worrying about the amount of rest time, though I wouldn't make those rest times any more than 3-4 minutes, decreasing that rest time as you gain stamina.

 

They call running for 20 seconds and walking for 10 seconds a 2:1 ratio and is usually only done by hardcore athletes or olympians.

Most normal people do a 1:3

 

Except I am not selling anything.