Does Cardio build muscle?

jeenyus43

I'm sorry. But, are you people crazy? Have you ever seen a professional soccer players legs? They rarely do resistance training and their legs commonly are like tree trunks. How do you think they get that? they run, run, run.
Have you seen a professional sprinters legs? Now they do a fair amount of weights. But, back in the day, they did not and they had huge legs.
My brother just played soccer and ran hills when he was in high school, and he developed almost 25 inch thighs.
I knew a lot of guys who bicycled in high school, and their thighs just exploded.
Granted, the key here is that these guys were male and they did these activities during adolescence, when a male's testosterone level is high and growth potential is immense. But, clearly, you can build serious muscle doing cardio -- intense cardio.
Most males who build huge muscle lifting weights do so during adolescence too.

This is crazy! Professional athletes do tons of "resistance training" which they call GPP. Maybe not in season when they are perfecting their sport but that's what off season is for. Listen to mustgetmuscle, he hit the nail on the head. Strength training coupled with a caloric deficit will decrease fat and help preserve lean muscle as much as possible. You can get "abs all in" without ever doing a minute of cardio if you diet is on point. Without any appreciable muscle mass once you cardio all that weight off you'll be left looking "skinny fat". My suggestion is begin a proven strength training program and sprinkle in a little cardio if you must. Fat gain/loss is 80% done in the kitchen.

Absref71

Muscle burns more calories than fat does. In short, if you have more muscle, though it may weigh more it will help you to lose fat that you do not want. Don't focus on 10 lbs. Focus on measurements. Lean muscle will make you more toned so that you are smaller. A person who is 130 lbs with a low percentage of body fat will always look better than a 120 lb person with a higher percentage of body fat.

Add weights in to your routine. 2-3 times a week do a 45 minute to 1 hour session of full body weight lifting, added to maybe 5 days a week of cardio (20-30 mins of cardio on weight training days, and 30-40 mins of cardio on non lifting days) and you will start to burn more calories and achieve the physique that you desire.

Listen to this chick, good advice!! I wouldn't do 5 cardios in a week though, at first any ways

glovepuppet

it'll build muscles in your thigh & *kitten* mostly.
running is great for your *kitten*.
the force going through that muscle when you land on one leg at speed is prob'ly higher than most people squat anyway..

krhn

If you haven't done cardio for a long time and jump onto it, it can build a bit of muscle but very little

heybales

I will definitely be incorporating the programs of body weight training into my cardio though, as I had not realised that I was essentially burning muscle? As far as my cardio goes, I do Interval Training on the Elliptical, not just plain cardio, and I have a HRM which often tells me that I have reached my fitness improving zone, as opposed to fat burning zone, and that I have reached, or often surpassed, my maximum heart rate limit, so I know I am doing intense cardio, with accurate burns, as opposed to MFP estimates. My HRM is a Polar FT7.

Hate to tell you, but if you went over what the HRM thinks is your HRmax, then your calorie burns are no where near accurate.

So for example, you hit 160 in a workout, and the HRM thinks 170 is your HRmax. Wow - intense workout, big calorie burn.
But if in reality you have hit 185 and weren't dying, your HRmax may really be 190.
Now, 160 out of possible 190. No, not nearly as intense a workout, not a big calorie burn.

If you saw a higher HR than HRmax, and it wasn't hard, probably increase the HRmax stat by 15.
If you saw it reach there (not a static fluke) and you were about dying and had to stop and walk or nothing right afterwards, increase the stat by 5.

ninerbuff

Short answer: Not really.

Maybe a little in the beginning, but building lean muscle takes progressive overload and a calorie surplus.

Cardio builds ENDURANCE and STAMINA.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

GiddyupTim

I'm sorry. But, are you people crazy? Have you ever seen a professional soccer players legs? They rarely do resistance training and their legs commonly are like tree trunks. How do you think they get that? they run, run, run.
Have you seen a professional sprinters legs? Now they do a fair amount of weights. But, back in the day, they did not and they had huge legs.
My brother just played soccer and ran hills when he was in high school, and he developed almost 25 inch thighs.
I knew a lot of guys who bicycled in high school, and their thighs just exploded.
Granted, the key here is that these guys were male and they did these activities during adolescence, when a male's testosterone level is high and growth potential is immense. But, clearly, you can build serious muscle doing cardio -- intense cardio.
Most males who build huge muscle lifting weights do so during adolescence too.

This is crazy! Professional athletes do tons of "resistance training" which they call GPP. Maybe not in season when they are perfecting their sport but that's what off season is for. Listen to mustgetmuscle, he hit the nail on the head. Strength training coupled with a caloric deficit will decrease fat and help preserve lean muscle as much as possible. You can get "abs all in" without ever doing a minute of cardio if you diet is on point. Without any appreciable muscle mass once you cardio all that weight off you'll be left looking "skinny fat". My suggestion is begin a proven strength training program and sprinkle in a little cardio if you must. Fat gain/loss is 80% done in the kitchen.

Not crazy. I never said that no athletes lift weights. I said that athletes in sports that require lots of running (or endurance, like biking) who do not lift weights often can and do build muscle and strength.
We all know, for instance, that Michael Jordan lifted weights. Had an extensive, intense program. He lifted heavy. (But he also did not get big; he was skinny as a rail. [I might argue that this was because he was not an adolescent when he started])
My only point is to say that the idea that you cannot build muscle and strength without weights is wrong. And, that what is even more wrong is to contend that you will eat up all your muscle and lose strength if all you do is cardio.
If that were the case, why don't marathoners eventually become so weak they can no longer run? Instead, the more they train the better and faster they get.

heybales

If that were the case, why don't marathoners eventually become so weak they can no longer run? Instead, the more they train the better and faster they get.

Need to do some research on this, basic misunderstanding of what they improve.

And you ever seen their upper bodies which they don't exercise, because they don't want to carry extra unneeded mass?

You don't burn off what you are using - and most importantly for the audience in this forum, well, vast majority of audience.

Are pro-marathoners eating at a deficit?

snooj

OK, thanks everybody, these are all fantastic responses! I should have clarified, however, that I have already been working out for over 6 weeks, and seen not that much difference? Though some say they can see it in my face? So it wasn't a case of "1 month, let's burn ALLLLLL the fat." And I am working towards a healthy existence, not just bikini season, but it would also be nice to be comfortable on the beach, for once, and I have had health kicks before but they never last because I fail to see results that motivate me to continue. #InstantGratificationWhore :P

I have been doing body weight exercises such as squats and push ups, but I didn't know that it would qualify as lifting. I do add weights in for my squats as they have gotten quite boring/easy, and I mix it up between plie/sumo and close feet and normal squats.

I really appreciate the input!!! I suppose the reason I haven't seen much change must be diet, but I almost always stay under my calorie goals?

I will definitely be incorporating the programs of body weight training into my cardio though, as I had not realised that I was essentially burning muscle? As far as my cardio goes, I do Interval Training on the Elliptical, not just plain cardio, and I have a HRM which often tells me that I have reached my fitness improving zone, as opposed to fat burning zone, and that I have reached, or often surpassed, my maximum heart rate limit, so I know I am doing intense cardio, with accurate burns, as opposed to MFP estimates. My HRM is a Polar FT7.

Cardio is awesome for building endurance and increasing daily caloric need, and that's it. No muscle gain. There are people who complain they just got big, but it's really not by muscle. As a woman, we can only get 1 lb/month if we're doing everything correctly. If you're in a deficit, even by lifting you won't gain muscle.

You can lose weight by doing lifting by the way. The trick to weight loss is just being in a caloric deficit. Cardio burns more calories, yes, but you can still achieve a deficit with weight training, and it'll help preserve the muscle you already have. Even if you lose a lot of weight, you may not like the look until you get muscle. You can also just do both, weight training on some days, cardio on others.

Bodyweight squats isn't lifting unless if it's really difficult for you. If you can do more than 10 reps of that, it's not heavy enough.

PrimalSiren

There's a lot of great info in this thread, thanks everyone for sharing your opinions!

ninerbuff

I'm sorry. But, are you people crazy? Have you ever seen a professional soccer players legs? They rarely do resistance training and their legs commonly are like tree trunks. How do you think they get that? they run, run, run.

If you don't think a professional in any physical sport DOESN'T do resistance training......................

Have you seen a professional sprinters legs? Now they do a fair amount of weights. But, back in the day, they did not and they had huge legs.

Sprinting is considered anaerobic exercise because of explosive power in a short time.

My brother just played soccer and ran hills when he was in high school, and he developed almost 25 inch thighs.
I knew a lot of guys who bicycled in high school, and their thighs just exploded.
Granted, the key here is that these guys were male and they did these activities during adolescence, when a male's testosterone level is high and growth potential is immense. But, clearly, you can build serious muscle doing cardio -- intense cardio.
Most males who build huge muscle lifting weights do so during adolescence too.

I think you need to read up on the differences in muscle fibers. Trust me, it will make sense.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

grantdumas7

I'm sorry. But, are you people crazy? Have you ever seen a professional soccer players legs? They rarely do resistance training and their legs commonly are like tree trunks. How do you think they get that? they run, run, run.

If you don't think a professional in any physical sport DOESN'T do resistance training......................

Have you seen a professional sprinters legs? Now they do a fair amount of weights. But, back in the day, they did not and they had huge legs.

Sprinting is considered anaerobic exercise because of explosive power in a short time.

My brother just played soccer and ran hills when he was in high school, and he developed almost 25 inch thighs.
I knew a lot of guys who bicycled in high school, and their thighs just exploded.
Granted, the key here is that these guys were male and they did these activities during adolescence, when a male's testosterone level is high and growth potential is immense. But, clearly, you can build serious muscle doing cardio -- intense cardio.
Most males who build huge muscle lifting weights do so during adolescence too.

I think you need to read up on the differences in muscle fibers. Trust me, it will make sense.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I agree. Soccer players and sprinters do short burst sprints which affect fast twitch muscle fibers.

runner2runner

Cardio build's lean muscle. But you can also improve your muscle tone by adding light weights to your routine. Light weights won't make your muscles bigger but more toned and defined. The improvement in your muscle tone means that you will be able to burn more fat. As for soccer players and sprinters having big thighs, you don't have to worry about ending up with big thighs from cardio. You'll find that a lot of those guys already have the genetics for developing big thighs and the sprinting and soccer simply added to all that bulky muscle they would have developed anyway even if they didn't do those sports. So you run, you can cycle, even play soccer and I guarantee you, you won't develop big thighs unless you add heavy weights to your routine.

GiddyupTim

I'm sorry. But, are you people crazy? Have you ever seen a professional soccer players legs? They rarely do resistance training and their legs commonly are like tree trunks. How do you think they get that? they run, run, run.
Have you seen a professional sprinters legs? Now they do a fair amount of weights. But, back in the day, they did not and they had huge legs.
My brother just played soccer and ran hills when he was in high school, and he developed almost 25 inch thighs.
I knew a lot of guys who bicycled in high school, and their thighs just exploded.
Granted, the key here is that these guys were male and they did these activities during adolescence, when a male's testosterone level is high and growth potential is immense. But, clearly, you can build serious muscle doing cardio -- intense cardio.
Most males who build huge muscle lifting weights do so during adolescence too.

I'm sorry...but are YOU crazy??? I've played soccer all my life and if you think soccer players rarely do resistance training I would love to see your work out regime because I remember wanting to die from all the weight lifting and resistance training we had to do. You're also eating a crap load to sustain yourself. Not eating at a calorie deficit. When we ran sprints, we carried people on our backs. We had 30 minutes set aside in our morning conditions just to do strength strengthening &resistance training just for lower body...that doesn't include any other body work outs. To be a good soccer player your don't have to just be fast and have endurance you have to have strength to strike balls, slide tackle, and compete for the ball.

Hi laybabe,
Again, I am not saying that endurance athletes like soccer players never do weight training. I am not saying they do not benefit from weight training. I am saying that these endurance athletes who do not weight train can and do build muscle. Call it HIIT, because they sprint. Call it what you will. They run great distances at a time, their heart rate goes up, and it appears that they get stronger, and sometimes bigger, by doing so.

Hadabetter

Overloading muscles is what builds muscle. If you ask them to exert more force than they are able, then they will adapt by getting stronger. Cardio tends to tire muscles rather than overloading them. It has all sorts of great benefits, but building muscle isn't one of them.

ninerbuff

Cardio build's lean muscle. But you can also improve your muscle tone by adding light weights to your routine. Light weights won't make your muscles bigger but more toned and defined. The improvement in your muscle tone means that you will be able to burn more fat. As for soccer players and sprinters having big thighs, you don't have to worry about ending up with big thighs from cardio. You'll find that a lot of those guys already have the genetics for developing big thighs and the sprinting and soccer simply added to all that bulky muscle they would have developed anyway even if they didn't do those sports. So you run, you can cycle, even play soccer and I guarantee you, you won't develop big thighs unless you add heavy weights to your routine.

Cardio DOESN'T build lean muscle. It builds endurance. Just like light weights/high reps do. More definition comes from lower body fat due to calorie deficit.
Still lots of misconceptions on how muscle and actual exercises work on the body.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

phjorg

I'm sorry. But, are you people crazy? Have you ever seen a professional soccer players legs? They rarely do resistance training and their legs commonly are like tree trunks. How do you think they get that? they run, run, run.
Have you seen a professional sprinters legs? Now they do a fair amount of weights. But, back in the day, they did not and they had huge legs.
My brother just played soccer and ran hills when he was in high school, and he developed almost 25 inch thighs.
I knew a lot of guys who bicycled in high school, and their thighs just exploded.
Granted, the key here is that these guys were male and they did these activities during adolescence, when a male's testosterone level is high and growth potential is immense. But, clearly, you can build serious muscle doing cardio -- intense cardio.
Most males who build huge muscle lifting weights do so during adolescence too.

I'm sorry...but are YOU crazy??? I've played soccer all my life and if you think soccer players rarely do resistance training I would love to see your work out regime because I remember wanting to die from all the weight lifting and resistance training we had to do. You're also eating a crap load to sustain yourself. Not eating at a calorie deficit. When we ran sprints, we carried people on our backs. We had 30 minutes set aside in our morning conditions just to do strength strengthening &resistance training just for lower body...that doesn't include any other body work outs. To be a good soccer player your don't have to just be fast and have endurance you have to have strength to strike balls, slide tackle, and compete for the ball.

Hi laybabe,
Again, I am not saying that endurance athletes like soccer players never do weight training. I am not saying they do not benefit from weight training. I am saying that these endurance athletes who do not weight train can and do build muscle. Call it HIIT, because they sprint. Call it what you will. They run great distances at a time, their heart rate goes up, and it appears that they get stronger, and sometimes bigger, by doing so.

its like you don't understand how sprinting impacts type II muscle fibre....

GiddyupTim

It's like nobody pays attention to what I am saying.
I do not care what type of muscle it is. I do not care if it is made by sprinting. All I am saying is this: A person can build muscle by running alone.
And, if cardio is so bad for muscle, then why do marathoners run so much and continue to get faster, better, and stronger as they do? Why doesn't their performance erode?
That's all. You seem to want it to be too simple.

grantdumas7

This will shed some insight on cardio and it's affect on muscle.
http://rxmuscle.com/2013-01-11-01-57-36/muscle-college/7694-muscle-college-3-12-13.html

In a nutshell long duration cardio negatively affects protein synthesis. Marathon and other long distance runners have skin legs compared to their sprinter counter parts. Running causes the most muscle damage and cycling causes the least..

toutmonpossible

Not appreciably.