Cardio during maintenance
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alondrakayy
Posts: 304 Member
How does that work?
I have a desk job so I sit down most of the day. Thinking of adding 30 minute cardio days 2-3x a week (lift 3x a week doing strong curves). Would cardio hinder the little muscle gain that happens during recomp?
5ft 7in
145-147 lbs.
I have a desk job so I sit down most of the day. Thinking of adding 30 minute cardio days 2-3x a week (lift 3x a week doing strong curves). Would cardio hinder the little muscle gain that happens during recomp?
5ft 7in
145-147 lbs.
0
Replies
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Not if you eat enough to still be at maintenance.
And as long as you recovered from it to still allow a good workout.
And as long is you did not ruin a good recovery with a hard session.
edited to add so important NOT.3 -
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That much cardio won't hinder. Lots of cardio will, but moderate for 30 minutes, nah, you're good.0
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Assuming you wish to be fit and healthy then yes, I think you should do at some cardio.
For maintenance clearly you have to be eating back your exercise calories, whether you label them as such or not.
The amount of cardio varies with individual goals and enjoyment of whatever activity and intensity your "cardio" actually is. That's a very broad spectrum....
I cycle a lot (4000+ miles last year) and get some training and recovery interference, especially in summer. So I have to find a compromise and prioritise.
That's not going to be an insurmountable issue for people with more "normal" levels.
Why do you think cardio would hinder you gaining muscle?
Also wonder why you think "little muscle gain" happens?2 -
Exercise is for fitness. Cardio is for cardiovascular fitness. It is a good thing. Keep doing it.1
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I wish the cardio hindering or killing muscle growth myth would die.4
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The amount of cardio required, coupled with horrible recovery practices(under eating, insufficient sleep, etc) to actually impact muscle growth to a significant degree is not something the general population usually has to worry about. This is why you have people worried about 30 minutes of cardio ruining everything. It's just not going to happen.4 -
You think the general population is doing workouts that maximize muscle growth?
I'd suggest your average person could screw it up pretty bad with average life under-sleeping, if they constantly felt that 30 min of intense cardio (faddish HIIT) was needed to assist fat burn as many do, and indeed had a steep deficit that many do intentionally or accidentally.
Probably take 1 week I'd bet for their lifting workouts to start sucking.
They'd likely not notice though because from their point of view - they are still giving it their all.
But until they can compare, they'd not know it.
And it's not the recovery process that is effected as much by what I've seen - but rather the ability to have a good lifting workout that actually does some damage even requiring recovery from.0 -
You think the general population is doing workouts that maximize muscle growth?
I'd suggest your average person could screw it up pretty bad with average life under-sleeping, if they constantly felt that 30 min of intense cardio (faddish HIIT) was needed to assist fat burn as many do, and indeed had a steep deficit that many do intentionally or accidentally.
Probably take 1 week I'd bet for their lifting workouts to start sucking.
They'd likely not notice though because from their point of view - they are still giving it their all.
But until they can compare, they'd not know it.
And it's not the recovery process that is effected as much by what I've seen - but rather the ability to have a good lifting workout that actually does some damage even requiring recovery from.
@heybales brings up a good point about sleep. For recovery it's number 1. If you are trying to dial in your cardio vs lifting ratio/timing etc. but not getting enough sleep, it won't matter, the lack of good sleep recovery will trump everything else.0 -
You think the general population is doing workouts that maximize muscle growth?
I'd suggest your average person could screw it up pretty bad with average life under-sleeping, if they constantly felt that 30 min of intense cardio (faddish HIIT) was needed to assist fat burn as many do, and indeed had a steep deficit that many do intentionally or accidentally.
Probably take 1 week I'd bet for their lifting workouts to start sucking.
They'd likely not notice though because from their point of view - they are still giving it their all.
But until they can compare, they'd not know it.
And it's not the recovery process that is effected as much by what I've seen - but rather the ability to have a good lifting workout that actually does some damage even requiring recovery from.
None of that is because of cardio. If their lifting program already sucks everything after that is meaningless and it doesn't matter if or how much cardio they do. If their sleep/recovery sucks, it's not the 30 minutes cardio that's limiting them. I'll give you that mis-applied HIIT can cause interference though. I'm much more focused on people who are afraid to go for a jog, or hop on the bike or do any type of cardio in fear of killing their gains.
Now when you get to the level of people who put in significant mileage per week and still lift very heavy, they already know to have their recovery practices down pat and then it's about managing the stresses of lifting and long running.
I think we are mostly in agreement, just having a hard time explaining it.2 -
I wish the cardio hindering or killing muscle growth myth would die.
Thank you. I'm trying to unlearn a lot of the junk that was fed to me as a newbie. I knew it was rather silly to worry about 30 minute cardio sessions but after so much trial and error I find it's best I ask than waste time or hinder my progress. Ya know?
Thank you all for your input.
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Ya, your workout frequency, duration, and intensity - no problem.
I just have found that some do ruin it for themselves, and have a comparatively bad lifting workout - and wondering why they aren't getting stronger.
So I just didn't want to dismiss it as a myth in general with blanket statement even though it didn't apply to your case.0 -
People can do cardio every day. Of course if it takes a toll of your body, you have to listen to what it's telling you.0
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I love this. In the past I've gone extreme with all the wrong things. I'm learning and constantly searching the community forums for answers to my questions, so thank y'all for this info ☺0
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I cycle 30 minutes every morning, Monday to Saturday, I also cycle for another 30 minutes on Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday evenings & I weight train on Monday, Wednesday & Friday evenings and I walk for an hour on Sundays, because that is my rest day ... I am an office worker, I sit at a desk 8 hours a day Monday to Friday, plus I travel (by public transport) for 2 hours a day, so I'm more than ready to get active every day after work and I have definitely got some good muscle tone going on, unfortunately I don't have access to a set of body comp scales to know what my percentage of fat is, but I do know I still have a way to go to get to my idea body shape, although I'm pretty happy with my body weight.
My cycling is done in the Fat Burn & Improved Fitness range according to my Polar HR Sensor, so I'm no exactly pushing myself to the limits, but I do work up a sweat and definitely feel the benefits of my workout, plus I haven't noticed that my weight training sessions suffer because of my cardio routine, I've never bought into that cardio killing gains rubbish though.0 -
I run 3 to 4 times a week. I attend a circuit class 3 days a week ( which includes lots of weights ). I don't have a strict lifting schedule but have been able to gain with muscle growth. I just had my body comp done at my gym. I am 43 year old woman, 5'3", weigh 143lb, sit in an office 5 days a week. My BF% is 16.5 and my lean body weight is 117lbs. Your 30 minutes of cardio is not going to mess with your muscle gain, just make sure to keep lifting.
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MostlyWater wrote: »People can do cardio every day. Of course if it takes a toll of your body, you have to listen to what it's telling you.
Well you can. But that doesn't mean it is optimal. For those of us trying to get stronger and build/ preserve muscle mass, it makes most sense to focus concentration and energy on weight training on weight training days and cardio on the others. I do something 7 days per week. 3 weight training days and mostly low impact cardio walking with some running intervals thrown in. This give me the energy and focus for my priority.
ETA: I also think walking is a very underestimated cardio/ recovery/ calorie burning tool. I can get the intensity up where I'm at about 50% of HR max doing hills on my course. Throwing in a few intervals of running keep a good vo2max but I only do that maybe 2x per week.1 -
I do StrongLifts 3x a week, but also spin and do HIIT 2x per week, plus several brisk walks. It hasn't hindered my progress at all so far.1
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tjones0411 wrote: »I do StrongLifts 3x a week, but also spin and do HIIT 2x per week, plus several brisk walks. It hasn't hindered my progress at all so far.
How long have you been doing strong lifts? I just started and I'm loving it so far.0
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