The 8 week 'Muscle HIIT' workout programme is ideal for those wanting to get fit and build lean muscle but don't have the luxury of spending hours in the gym on a daily basis. The workout combines resistance training with a HIIT circuit that is guaranteed to get the heart pumping and the muscles burning.
Home or Gym
The great thing about the 'Muscle HIIT' workout is that it can be done either in the gym or at home. Life can be demanding and time a precious commodity, so if you have a bit of space at home why not bring the gym to your living room. If you have a pair of dumbbells and a barbell you are good to go. Just try not to break anything.
Partner Up
If you are performing the workout from home why not train with a friend. Training with a partner is an excellent way to maintain motivation and intensity during workouts. Also, having someone to spot you means that you can get the most out of each workout by training to failure on most exercises.
Training Principles
The 8 week 'Muscle HIIT' workout programme combines resistance training with intense HIIT cardio training to promote an increase in lean muscle mass and general fitness. There are 4 workouts a week that cover every major muscle group and supporting muscles. As the weeks progress, participants will increase the number of reps performed per exercise to maintain high intensity levels. This focus on adaption avoidance ensures maximum benefits to the body and the continued building of lean muscle mass.
HIT Training System
The foundational principles of high-intensity training (HIT) are that exercise must be very intense, and that workouts should be relatively short and infrequent. Exercises are performed with a high level of effort, or intensity, this, it is thought, stimulates the body to produce an increase in muscular strength and size. Proponents of HIT believe that this method is superior for strength and size building to most other methods which, for example, may stress lower weights with larger volume.
Progression
Central to all successful workout routines is an emphasis on progression. The body's adaptation to exercise can occur relatively quickly, which will result in diminishing returns and stall progress. This is why it is important to make sure every workout is challenging. If you begin to feel comfortable with an exercise it is vital that you increase the intensity or number of sets/reps performed to continue making gains. Over the course of the programme, participants will gradually increase the number of reps performed per exercise to help maintain intensity and maximise the potential for continued gains.
Training
Schedule
Active Rest
It is important to allow your muscles to repair after a gruelling weightlifting session, this is a fundamental principle when trying to promote muscle growth. Sufficient rest is central to allowing muscles to repair themselves and is the reason major muscle groups are generally worked no more than once or twice a week with hypertrophy training programmes.
However, this does not mean you should sit around idle on your days off. Active rest can take the form of any moderate physical exercise outside of a gym environment. When you are not bench pressing your 1 rep max or deadlifting your own bodyweight, take the opportunity to participate in a favoured sport, go for a run, or simply aim to smash your personal best on that step counter you rarely use.
Warm Up
It is important to remember to warm up before any workout session to avoid unnecessary injuries or muscle tears. Typically, a warm up consists of 5 to 10 minutes on a cardio machine and a few minutes spent stretching. Try to employ both static and dynamic stretches when warming up. In addition to your pre-workout warm up, do not forget to do warm up sets when doing heavy lifting exercises. Failure to do so can result in injury.
Sample Day 1
Muscle
HIT
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