HIIT cardio increases muscle mass?

[roderigo88]

I'm on my cutting phase and been doing the HIIT routine for my cardio on the rowing machine for nearly 2 weeks, 2x a week , on top of my weight training , also 2x a week.

I am pleased with results so far - more vascularity, abs more defined. In fact, I have seen an increase of 3-4 lbs in body weight over the last 2 weeks, which I speculate is lean muscle gain.

Does anyone who practice HIIT cardio experience the same thing i.e lean muscle gains ? Am I being unrealistic here in speculating that the extra 3-4 lbs is muscle gain ? Could it be just water rentention and/or excess fat?

ps. I am on an ECA stack and on maintainance calories and take around 200g of protein per day.


Thanks !