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Cardio robs you of your lifting gains.

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Replies

  • jmt08c
    jmt08c Posts: 343 Member
    Cardio is an important part of any fitness plan and done correctly in conjunction with weight training can lead to greater strength gains than weight lifting alone. If your goals are to gain muscle mass then train for that in your cardio workout too by doing suicides, sled pushes, box jumps, sprint rows etc. Too often people confine cardio to simple running or biking.
  • nash_ap
    nash_ap Posts: 5 Member
    Char231023 wrote: »
    I have read about this a few times mostly on BB.com. Is this true or just an excuse for lifters to skip cardio.

    As long as you're on a caloric surplus, your fine. However, if you're maintaining your caloric intake or on a caloric deficit, then you will lose all kinds of gains.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    nash_ap wrote: »
    Char231023 wrote: »
    I have read about this a few times mostly on BB.com. Is this true or just an excuse for lifters to skip cardio.

    As long as you're on a caloric surplus, your fine. However, if you're maintaining your caloric intake or on a caloric deficit, then you will lose all kinds of gains.

    Cool science bro.

    Too bad no one told Terry Crews. He runs 4 miles every morning.
    terry-crews-feature-0215.jpg
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    nash_ap wrote: »
    Char231023 wrote: »
    I have read about this a few times mostly on BB.com. Is this true or just an excuse for lifters to skip cardio.

    As long as you're on a caloric surplus, your fine. However, if you're maintaining your caloric intake or on a caloric deficit, then you will lose all kinds of gains.
    Sorry but that's absolute twaddle. My lifts only improved and I also pushed my cardio to new PB's including my first 100 mile cycle while losing weight.
    Bench press up 50% while losing 7lbs of weight.

    It's not that hard to at least maintain your muscle in a calorie deficit for people who aren't at their training peak - it's simply not the case that deficit automatically = muscle loss.

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,501 Member
    Commander_Keen wrote: »
    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.
    Whether one does intense cardio or moderate cardio, the primary fuel is glycogen. The body WON'T use amino acids as fuel until the body is depleted of glycogen and that takes quite an effort. Someone who's losing weight at a moderate calorie deficit shouldn't have any issues as long as there's enough protein even if they are just primarily doing cardio.
    People lose muscle for a couple of reasons: a deficit that likely exceeds 2% body weight loss and inadequate amount protein to support muscle support.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    nash_ap wrote: »
    Char231023 wrote: »
    I have read about this a few times mostly on BB.com. Is this true or just an excuse for lifters to skip cardio.

    As long as you're on a caloric surplus, your fine. However, if you're maintaining your caloric intake or on a caloric deficit, then you will lose all kinds of gains.
    Sorry but that's absolute twaddle. My lifts only improved and I also pushed my cardio to new PB's including my first 100 mile cycle while losing weight.
    Bench press up 50% while losing 7lbs of weight.

    It's not that hard to at least maintain your muscle in a calorie deficit for people who aren't at their training peak - it's simply not the case that deficit automatically = muscle loss.

    At age 56 and sustaining an average calorie deficit of almost 1900 cal/day for over 5 months, I had no problem setting PRs in all my lifts and lifting much heavier weights than when I was in my 20s and 30s.

    At age 62, I have lost 35 lbs since January, with virtually no muscle loss and no strength training whatsoever (lack of lifting not my choice).

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