Does the treadmill/elliptical help build muscle?

mssgeni
mssgeni Posts: 83 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I ask because for the last months I haven't been losing a lot of weight, but I know I'm shrinking somehow... all of my jeans and pants are very loose on me and my legs don't feel like blubber anymore. But all I've been doing is the elliptical and running...

To be fair, I always put the treadmill at a 11% incline for a good 10-15 minutes per visit then I run, and the elliptical I have it on fat burn mode until I reach a heart rate of 180-185 for half an hour to an hour... so they're both pretty challenging on my legs. Could this be making me gain muscle? I heard somewhere else that cardio actually makes you LOSE muscle :/

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    No
  • mssgeni
    mssgeni Posts: 83 Member
    Ahh... I see. Yeah, I figured the only way to build muscle was to put some strain on it til it rebuilds and for that I'd need weights or something. Oh wells. Wishful thinking I guess. :)
  • Seraphemz
    Seraphemz Posts: 84 Member
    Im on the exact same boat. I mainly do the elliptical...and notice the same thing. Not really losing weight, but im losing a lot in inches. My legs are felling a lot stronger, not flabby and my calves are getting ridiculous. Now i do also do some strength training but i mainly focus on Ellitical.
  • IIISpartacusIII
    IIISpartacusIII Posts: 252 Member
    While it's possible for a completely sedentary person to build a very small amount of muscle if they begin to use cardio equipment regularly, it won't amount to much and especially not for women since they don't have very much testosterone with which to build muscle. If you find yourself looking like a huge, buff Mr. Universe bodybuilder from using a treadmill then I'd recommend Lithium. (Disclaimer: This not meant to be a substitute for medical advice)
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    No, it doesn't.

    Cardio is, generally speaking, catabolic. If you want to build muscle, you want to lift.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    Ahh... I see. Yeah, I figured the only way to build muscle was to put some strain on it til it rebuilds and for that I'd need weights or something. Oh wells. Wishful thinking I guess. :)

    You can always start off with BW squats.
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    I don't know about all that. What I do know is that my legs have changed shape and gotten stronger since I started working out on the elliptical on a fairly regular basis.
  • mssgeni
    mssgeni Posts: 83 Member
    Well I work an office job so other than the gym I'm pretty much completely sedentary, maybe that's what happened! I swear though I'm shrinking. Everything is super lose on me :(

    And no steroids for me, thank you!! I like being a woman. I would never expect to be a bodybuilder, I don't have the testosterone :P But I would love to get my legs back, I've always had strong legs before I got fluffy!
  • Seraphemz
    Seraphemz Posts: 84 Member
    You can still be losing weight without building muscle though. Dont get down about it. Also, like I said, i can see a huge difference in my legs, and I know that they have muscle now since doing the machine.
  • mssgeni
    mssgeni Posts: 83 Member
    I think you're right seraphemz. Maybe it might not build a whole ton of muscle but it activated whatever muscle was in there at the very least. -.-
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,029 Member
    Normally need 2 things to happen to build muscle: calorie surplus and progressive resistance training.

    That's not happening here.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • mssgeni
    mssgeni Posts: 83 Member
    okay-meme-face.jpg

    I guess this is the miss geni's in denial thread..
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    The answer is mostly no, but not 100%, which is why some people are noting discrepancies.

    Training adaptation occurs according to the specific stressors imposed by the exercise. It takes a certain amount of muscle strength to perform cardio exercise. As noted earlier, a beginner will experience a small, but often noticeable increase in muscle strength as the body adapts to the specific demands of the cardio exercise. Depending on the beginning level of conditioning, individual variance in response to exercise, and the demands of the movement, this transient "increase" may be more noticeable in some people.

    These adaptations will plateau rather quickly, however, and are not an effective substitute for resistance training.

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