High Intensity Weight Training to Build Muscle and Strength
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How to Use High Intensity Weight Training to Build Muscle and Strength
High Intensity Weight Training (HIWT) or High Intensity Training (HIT) is often associated with building muscle, strength, and endurance. Results can be seen in a relatively short period of time as compared to traditional training regimens.
A simple way to explain high intensity weight training would be to say that you go hard and fast for a set of intervals and then stop or rest for a period of time in between intervals.
You repeat this until you are completely spent. Here you will learn how to use high intensity weight training to build muscle and strength.
* Intensity Level: When on a HIT weight training program, you want to jump right in. Start at a higher level than you normally would and work your way up to the point that you feel as though you can't go any more. You should be spent by the time you are done with your workout.
* Repetitions: To make your HIWT workout most effective, it is important to plan in advance how many repetitions you will do for each exercise. It is ideal to start out at a level that is medium for you and work your way through five or six repetitions progressing up to the point that you max out your muscles. You want to exhaust your muscles during a HIT workout.
* Rest: Although the major factor in HIT training, you also want to incorporate periods of rest. This rest isn't what you normally think of as rest though. It is actually still considered working out; however, it is at your lowest rate of exertion. During this period of "rest" your muscles are getting a chance to recuperate, without actually stopping.
* Duration: When you work out using a high intensity weight training program, you want to set even levels of repetitions. At the beginning and end, you want to have your "rest" periods and at least two more rest periods in between. Some people chose to go back an forth between maximum exertion and minimum exertion during a HIWT workout.
While traditional workout regimens may work the entire body during a workout, a typical HIT workout will only involve a few muscle groups during a workout. It is a good idea to write down the areas you plan to target and work them out in advance of even beginning the HIT program so that you know what your maximum exertion is. When you finish a HIT workout you should not still have energy to do much else other than shower and rest.
The way HIT training works to build muscle is by exhausting the muscle to or near the point of muscle failure. This in turn creates a response in the body to build the muscle stronger. Muscle failure is the point at which you can no longer complete the repetition. The muscle is exhausted and can't physically repeat the repetition again.
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