Does cardio burns muscle?

andresconejo

Hey!
I do 35 minutes of cardio 3 times/week (elliptical) and also strenght, but i want to know if its a myth that too much cardio can "melt" ur muscles? Or does it only help to improve ur cardiovascular system??

JenMc14

Cardio it's self doesn't burn muscle, I don't think, but if you're eating at a deficit and doing only cardio, no strength training, your body lose muscle along with the fat.

andresconejo

Bump

ThickMcRunFast

In and of itself, no, Although cardio sessions over 50 minutes or an hour will drive you into catabolism, which will burn muscle as well as fat/sugar stores for energy.

If your goal is to gain muscle, cardio alone won't do much for you.

ATT949

Hey!
I do 35 minutes of cardio 3 times/week (elliptical) and also strenght, but i want to know if its a myth that too much cardio can "melt" ur muscles? Or does it only help to improve ur cardiovascular system??

Cardiovascular exercise will increase your aerobic capacity and will increase the length and thickness of muscle cells.

Insofar as "doing only cardio, no strength training, your body lose muscle along with fat" is not as incorrect as the idea that you can "melt" muscle but is still incorrect.

If you exercise, your body will respond. If you're lifting heavy things, your muscles will tend to get larger more so than if you're doing only cardio. Conversely, the cardio benefit from lifting weights is much lower than from doing cardio but there may be some benefit, though it could be very small.

BTW, the ellip is a great workout. I started on the ellip in Jan 2011, after a few weeks of dieting, and continued through June 5, 2011. I started running on June 6, 2011 and ran a half marathon on August 21, 2011 (my time was 2:21). After the Half, I got on my motorcycle and did a "1,000 miles in a day ride" from San Diego to Tucson to Orange County.

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=367c4e4e87ed45c19

I firmly believe that using the ellip for six months prior to starting to run was instrumental in my being able to do the Half so easily (and I needed to take is easy because I had a 20 hour motorcycle ride through the CA and AZ desert.)

DavPul

35 mins of elliptical 3x per week? I think you'll live

bbbgamer

yes cardio burns muscle. don't do it if you want to retain it

BeachIron

You're no where near the point that this is an issue. Not that there is a clear line, but it's north of where you are.

sijomial

Hey!
I do 35 minutes of cardio 3 times/week (elliptical) and also strenght, but i want to know if its a myth that too much cardio can "melt" ur muscles? Or does it only help to improve ur cardiovascular system??

Myth - muscle is not fuel.
Your body will fuel itself from stored glycogen in combination with fat in different proportions according to intensity.

As long as you are not malnourished you will not be burning muscle. If you eat at a huge deficit, get very lean and try to do crazy amounts of cardio then yes you are going to cause problems - but that's not cardio "burning muscle" it's lack of calories and nutrition.

I trained for a 100 mile cycle and my leg muscles got not only stronger but bigger too.

andresconejo

Ok so i should consider it a myth and what really melts muscles is bad nutrition and huge deficits?