Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
Cardio robs you of your lifting gains.
Options
Char231023
Posts: 702 Member
in Debate Club
I have read about this a few times mostly on BB.com. Is this true or just an excuse for lifters to skip cardio.
0
Replies
-
So what I have been told is this.
When doing hard/intense cardio it will use muscle as fuel. The way to get around that, is to eat protein. How much, would be up to you, but I don't think its anything to really worry about.0 -
Agreed, not true. Eat back the calories if the cardio brings you under maintenance. Problem solved.0
-
If you are talking in a 'bulking context' it certainly can.
It does if it prevents you from building muscle because you're constantly using it. There's cardio and there's Cardio.
A bit of light jogging should be ok on recovery days. HIIT no.
It also screws with your bulking numbers by possibly putting you at maintenance or deficit if you underestimate your numbers/and/or not eat exercise cals back (unless you're that rare person who know their exact burns because they love it so much they couldn't give it up!)0 -
excuse no matter what they say even if u run marathons as long as u hit ur calories and macros ur good but to be to be honest if u are not into counting calories it might make u under eat because it makes u feel less hungry through the day but still not the point of starving and losing muscle . also depends if ur doing cardio to maintain ur weight or to bulk up or to lose fat . In case of losing fat i have done up to 5 hrs or more of cardio (80 min morning jog ) + dancing and walking for hours in summer ..i didn't lose any strength or size in the gym but i was eating more . the whole cardio and muscle loss is just a myth its not cardio that takes ur muscle away its a large caloric deficit + LONG cardio . think of a 5 bananas a day diet + 1 hr or 2 hr of running thats how cardio takes ur muscle away lol
0 -
For the longest time I would do cardio then lift.Then one day I tried it the other way around.I was able to lift more weight & do more exercises,but when I went to do my cardio I could only do half of what I normally do.
You only have so much energy.You have to choose what you want to do more;burn fat with cardio or build muscle with weight training?Then do that one first.0 -
The optimal way to it is at separate times of day ie: weights in the morning & cardio at night or vice versa.I work 12 hours a day,so I have to get it all done at once.1
-
Op can you sepcify gains?
Are you talking 'Gains' as in 'gaining muscle mass', or bro 'Gainz'?0 -
I am taking about gaining muscle mass. Right now I can't lift all I can do is run. I just want to make sure I wasn't losing strength and muscle mass by only running0
-
If you're trying to actually bulk on muscle, this requires a lot of energy...when you throw on a bunch of cardio on top of that, the amount of calories required on a consistent basis to actually bulk can be overwhelming. You have to understand that these people are already eating piles of food...and already having to eat even though they may not necessarily be hungry just to keep themselves in that surplus. Most guys I know who are actively bulking keep their cardio to a minimum and mostly do a lot of walking.
As a matter of general fitness, you don't really have anything to worry about...if you're wanting to be a competitive bodybuilder then you're going to have to do a lot of things differently.
In RE to cardio burning up muscle, this can happen...but it's generally when a lot of cardio is being done without adequate fueling and adequate protein.0 -
Char231023 wrote: »I am taking about gaining muscle mass. Right now I can't lift all I can do is run. I just want to make sure I wasn't losing strength and muscle mass by only running
Are you consistent in your body weight?
0 -
.this
In RE to cardio burning up muscle, this can happen...but it's generally when a lot of cardio is being done without adequate fueling and adequate protein. [/quote]
And if u are just running without lifting u will lose muscle mass
0 -
Springfield1970 wrote: »Char231023 wrote: »I am taking about gaining muscle mass. Right now I can't lift all I can do is run. I just want to make sure I wasn't losing strength and muscle mass by only running
Are you consistent in your body weight?
Yes my weight pretty much stays the same.0 -
HungryasFuark wrote: ».this
In RE to cardio burning up muscle, this can happen...but it's generally when a lot of cardio is being done without adequate fueling and adequate protein.
And if u are just running without lifting u will lose muscle mass
[/quote]
That's what I thought. Damn you ribs.0 -
Char231023 wrote: »HungryasFuark wrote: ».this
In RE to cardio burning up muscle, this can happen...but it's generally when a lot of cardio is being done without adequate fueling and adequate protein.
And if u are just running without lifting u will lose muscle mass
That's what I thought. Damn you ribs.[/quote]
Not necessarily true, that's why I asked if her weight was stable.
OP has your weight been stable and you've got bigger? Then yes you are losing muscle mass and gaining fat.
Are you the same size? Then don't worry.
Are you smaller? Then congrats, you've gained muscle and lost fat- basically recomped.
How does that change things? Or not..0 -
Muscle isn't fuel - your body isn't going to burn muscle by doing cardio unless you have a totally inappropriate calorie deficit or awful nutrition.
BB.com must be about the worst place to get information on cardio and its affects on the body.2 -
Char231023 wrote: »I am taking about gaining muscle mass. Right now I can't lift all I can do is run. I just want to make sure I wasn't losing strength and muscle mass by only running
as long as you at maintenance level calories you should not be losing any muscle...0 -
Thanks everybody0
-
To an extent yes. Particularly, getting better at cardio can reduce your ability to get better at lifting.
By Menlo Henselmans of Bayesian Bodybuilding: http://www.humanengine.com/index.php/articles/training/item/the-cardio-comedown?category_id=20 -
You can avoid losing muscle, even while on a calorie deficit, with full body exercise and eating enough protein. Can you swim? If you're not losing weight, you probably don't have much to worry about, just make sure you eat plenty of protein.0
-
Muscle isn't fuel - your body isn't going to burn muscle by doing cardio unless you have a totally inappropriate calorie deficit or awful nutrition.
BB.com must be about the worst place to get information on cardio and its affects on the body.
This is just an idea I have, from experience, just wondered what you thought.
As an older woman, but still of childbearing age, I'm sure it personally doesn't take much of a deficit for my body to turn to muscle for fuel. I swear that's what happened in my early tri training, when I was swinging slowly from under cutting and bingeing from not tracking calories before I found MFP. I was unfit, and training far too high into my heart rate zones.
I even think my body prefers to burn muscle than fat. It would make sense biologically re pregnancy etc.
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 911 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions