Does Cardio Kill Gains & Destroy Muscle Growth? Legion

At one level or one other, most gymgoers marvel: Does cardio kill positive factors?

Right here’s the way it normally goes: You’re coaching arduous, consuming nicely, and getting sufficient sleep to achieve muscle. However to remain match, you’re feeling you also needs to do some cardio, even when it’s only for an hour or two every week.

The concern is that whereas cardio is nice in your well being, it may additionally diminish your muscle and power positive factors.

However is that actually true?

Does cardio make you lose muscle mass?

Or have the “muscle-burning results” of cardio been exaggerated by on-line health “gurus?”

On this article, you’ll be taught the reply. You’ll additionally uncover the errors folks make that may enhance your odds of cardio burning muscle, easy methods to mix cardio and weightlifting accurately, and extra. 

Does Cardio “Destroy” Positive aspects?

Mistake #1: Doing cardio as an alternative of lifting weights.

1. Many endurance athletes don’t carry weight, or in the event that they do, they prepare with mild weights and often.
2. High-level endurance athletes prepare far more intensely than the common particular person making an attempt to remain match. For instance, champion marathoners run as much as 160 miles per week—over 20 miles each day!
3. These athletes typically have an unhealthy obsession with preserving their weight as little as doable to enhance efficiency, which may embrace considerably limiting their calorie consumption.
4. Sprinters typically prepare with heavy weights and will use steroids to improve their efficiency, which isn’t widespread for endurance athletes.

Principally, the one factor these comparability photos show is that operating marathons, severely proscribing your calorie consumption, and never lifting weights is a recipe for staying small. 

However what if an endurance athlete begins consuming extra and lifting weights?

After retiring from elite-level marathoning, Ryan Corridor did simply that. Right here’s how his physique modified:

The lesson? 

Doing a number of cardio on the expense of correct weightlifting can burn muscle, however that is a simple mistake to keep away from, offered you carry weights and eat sufficient energy and protein.

Mistake #2: Doing cardio as a part of a crash weight loss program.

Many individuals who do a number of cardio additionally comply with a crash diet to shed extra pounds as quick as doable. 

And this works extraordinarily nicely. 

The issue is, this additionally results in vital muscle loss, which implies these folks wind up trying skinny fat.

And when this occurs, they blame cardio.

The reality is, any type of extreme calorie restriction—whether or not from consuming much less, doing a number of cardio, or each—results in muscle loss, particularly in the event you’re not lifting weights.

However the reckless calorie restriction is at fault—not cardio

Mistake #3: Operating an excessive amount of.

Operating causes extra muscle harm than different types of cardio, like biking, rowing, and rucking, which interferes with muscle acquire in two methods: 

1. It considerably will increase muscle protein breakdown throughout and after runs, making it more durable in your physique to construct new muscle proteins.
2. It causes disproportionately extra fatigue than other forms of train, which may intrude together with your power coaching exercises. 

Nonetheless, this doesn’t imply operating will all the time hinder your muscle-building efforts.

To avoid any points, merely restrict your operating to not more than 2-to-3 hours of operating per week, and be sure you do your operating and lower-body weightlifting on separate days. 

Mistake #4: Doing an excessive amount of complete cardio.

Research reveals that as long as you’re following a correct weight loss program and strength training program, you’ll be able to acquire muscle simply as successfully doing just a few hours of cardio per week as you’ll be able to when solely lifting weights.

To make sure you don’t do an excessive amount of cardio, listed below are some tips that work for most individuals:

• Restrict the time you spend doing cardio to not more than half the time you spend weightlifting. For example, in the event you carry weights for 4 hours per week, don’t do greater than 2 hours of cardio.
• Preserve most of your cardio exercises to 45 minutes or much less.
• Don’t do a couple of HIIT cardio exercise per week.

Mistake #5: Doing an excessive amount of cardio at one time.

Research means that to keep away from the unfavorable results of cardio on muscle development, it’s finest to maintain most of your cardio exercises shorter than an hour. Going past an hour doesn’t imply you’ll robotically begin dropping muscle, however it does enhance the prospect of negatively affecting muscle development.

Additional help for this comes from studies of pure bodybuilders, who typically do a number of 30-to-40-minute cardio exercises per week with out dropping vital muscle.

Thus, as long as you retain most of your cardio exercises underneath an hour, you don’t want to fret about burning muscle. 

Mistake #6: Doing exhausting cardio instantly earlier than, throughout, or after lifting weights.

Some folks run for half-hour earlier than or after lifting weights, or combine in cardio with weightlifting, like in CrossFit or circuit coaching. 

Nonetheless, these approaches will not be preferrred for maximizing muscle development.

Doing cardio instantly and even a number of hours earlier than lifting weights makes it difficult to carry out at your finest within the gymnasium, which normally ends in much less muscle development over time. 

Doing cardio instantly after lifting weights is much less detrimental, however also can interfere with muscle development by dampening among the “muscle-building” indicators from power coaching. 

Thus, it’s typically higher to keep away from cardio instantly after lifting weights to permit your physique to totally profit from the power coaching.

That mentioned, if the one time you are able to do cardio is correct after lifting, don’t sweat it. So long as your post-lifting cardio exercises are pretty quick and low-intensity, they shouldn’t get in the best way of muscle constructing. 

It’s additionally value noting that not all types of cardio have the identical influence. Strolling 10-to-20 minutes to the gymnasium received’t damage your positive factors. Doing an intense 30-minute HIIT exercise after which clomping from the treadmill to the squat rack will.

The Proper Option to Mix Cardio and Power Coaching

[Read More: Concurrent Training: The Right Way to Combine Cardio and Strength Training]

Does Cardio Kill Positive aspects?: FAQs

FAQ #1: Does fasted cardio burn muscle?

Whereas fasted cardio increases fats burning throughout your exercise, it causes two issues: 

1. You burn less fat throughout the remainder of the day, which implies you lose the identical quantity of complete physique fats over a 24-hour interval as you do after fed cardio.
2. Your danger of muscle loss rises.

The principle cause fasted cardio could cause muscle loss is that it rapidly depletes muscle glycogen ranges, prompting your physique to interrupt down protein (muscle) for vitality. 

Nonetheless, you typically must do a good quantity of cardio—not less than 60 minutes or extra—to deplete glycogen ranges. So, the danger of muscle loss from a brief, ~30-minute fasted cardio session is low.

To be taught extra in regards to the professionals and cons of fasted cardio, take a look at this text: 

What Is Fasted Cardio and Can It Help You Lose Weight?

FAQ #2: Does high-intensity cardio burn muscle? 

Whereas some folks declare that high-intensity cardio is much less more likely to burn muscle, the evidence for that is inconsistent.

There’s cause to consider high-intensity cardio is barely extra more likely to intrude with muscle development than low-intensity cardio. It is because it typically results in extra muscle damage and fatigue, which may negatively influence your power coaching and muscle positive factors over time.

Thus, you would possibly wish to lean in direction of low-intensity cardio more often than not in the event you’re specializing in constructing muscle.

FAQ #3: How can I do cardio with out dropping muscle?

• Restrict the time you spend doing cardio to not more than half the time you spend weightlifting. For example, in the event you carry weights for 4 hours per week, don’t do greater than 2 hours of cardio.
• Preserve most of your cardio exercises to 30-to-45 minutes.
• Don’t do a couple of HIIT cardio exercise per week.