In the muscle building world, folks wanting to add muscle keep an eye on the amount of rest time between sets and transitions– keeping it to no more than 30-60 seconds. Taking this a step further is circuit training. That’s movement from one exercise to another with little to no rest. There are multiple variations, however usually resistance exercises are interspersed with bursts of cardio. Put it all together and you’ll get an effective way to blast some fat.
Researchers at U of CA at Santa Cruz studied two exercising groups recently. One group did up to 60 seconds of intense cardio intervals before each set of strength exercises and the other rested between sets. After 11 weeks of study, those in the interval group gained twice as much muscle AND lost 5 times more body fat than the resting group. Pretty interesting stuff, if you ask me. How and why did that happen? According to the dude in charge of the study, elevating your heart rate pumps more nutrients to the working muscles and helps clear waste. This helps accelerate muscle recovery and growth. And the neat part is that any type of cardio will do–so pick your pleasure & get moving!
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