How much is too much cardio when trying to build muscles?

alexbusnello · July 2012

I also want to burn fat but I'm unable to do HIIT workouts right now or whatever you call them. Lol I lost quite s bit if muscle mass everywhere from over training and eating too little and not resting long enough in the past and I've gained flab and bulging fat everywhere. My bones are easier to feel now, too. I have fat where I haven't had since I was younger when it was "baby fat".

I did chest, shoulders and arms yesterday with 20 minute wii fit run and was wondering if it would be too much to do more cardio today - 20, maybe 30 minute. Tomorrow I do core and maybe with cardio, then the next day I either rest or cardio and then lower body.

Monday: Upper body, back, cardio?
Tuesday: rest or cardio
Wednesday: core and cardio?
Thursday: rest or cardio
Friday: lower body and cardio?

Yesterday I realized I didn't do my back so I'll mix it in with my core tomorrow.

And when I rest, I don't move a whole lot... There's not much to do and my family is in a bad spot right now.
How much cardio is safe for wanting to build lean muscle but burning fat? I always hear that too much cardio can hinder muscle growth but how much is too much? Should I wait to do that much cardio till I rebuild my muscles back to burn the fat covering them?

Jynus · July 2012

you can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time. cardio does NOT burn fat, it burns calories. you lose fat by eating less calories than your body burns. you build muscle by eating more calories than your body burns combined with progressive overload resistance training and rest.

edit: to add to this a bit more. change your routine. there is no reason to work movements 1x per week. you can easily do 2-3x per week. faster gains. also, cardio can hinder muscle gain, but only if you're doing lots of cardio. a 30 min run here and there won't do anything to impact. training for a marathon will screw u though. and as I said before, cardio doesn't burn fat. so don't worry about cardio for fat loss. diet dictates fat loss. do cardio for health reasons.

warnott · July 2012

you can honestly do however much cardio you want so long as you eat to support your activity levels. there's going to be an impact in terms of how strong you may feel in the gym, e.g., running hills kills lower body days for me, but it's just something your body has to grow accustomed to.

alexbusnello · July 2012

you can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time. cardio does NOT burn fat, it burns calories. you lose fat by eating less calories than your body burns. you build muscle by eating more calories than your body burns combined with progressive overload resistance training and rest.

Eating this low had caused me to get fatter.....especially mixed with working out.

Cardio burns calories which means you will burn fat if done right. I obviously didn't do it right.

rides4sanity · July 2012

That isn't to much, but I'd leave one of those rest/cardio days as a rest day (maybe add a weekend outing).

As long as you are properly fueling your body with adequate calories (protien, carbs, good fat etc..) cardio shouldn't hinder your progress in conjunction with lifting. That being said, if you hate cardio, don't stress to squeeze in X # of hours each week. Lifting and calorie deficit can work without it (but your overall cardiovascular fitness won't improve much).

I personally love cardio so...even when I'm lifting (its cycling season right now-haven't lifted a finger lately) I try to lift 3-4 days a week (I do ~15 minutes of light cardio before I lift to warmup and then depending on the time/energy add 20-30 more after I lift) and have at least 1 cardio day, minumum 1 hour.

Good luck

Awkward30 · July 2012

you can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time. cardio does NOT burn fat, it burns calories. you lose fat by eating less calories than your body burns. you build muscle by eating more calories than your body burns combined with progressive overload resistance training and rest.

More or less true. If you haven't trained in a long time you might be able to do a little bit of both for a few months, but then you have to prioritize.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html This guide has a lot of good information. I'm more or less planning to cut to 19-20% then bulk to maybe 23-24% and then go back down. I don't like my look about 25% so I won't ever purposely do that.

Jynus · July 2012

you can honestly do however much cardio you want so long as you eat to support your activity levels. there's going to be an impact in terms of how strong you may feel in the gym, e.g., running hills kills lower body days for me, but it's just something your body has to grow accustomed to.

negatory, cardio does actually impact resistance training hypertrophy negatively i'm sorry to say. The level where you start seeing diminishing returns varies. a half hour cardio every few days will not be a problem for example. but running daily prob would. and yes, thats even if you do eat enough to compensate for increased activities.

dsuppa1997 · July 2012

that's not true at all. You can in fact lose fat and build muscle, however its hard to LOSE WEIGHT and build muscle at the same time. As far as cardio goes more than 30 minutes at a time I've been told starts to burn muscle. Also a good routine would be something like:

Monday: Upper body, back
Tuesday: cardio 30-60min
Wednesday: lower body
Thursday: off
Friday: core/cardio (something like a Core Class will get your heart rate going as much as standard Cardio excercises)
Saturday: off
Sunday: cardio 30 - 60min

Also with >100lb to lose I would focus more on loss than build right now so for your lifting days do high rep, low weight(not low enough that you can finish all 15 reps x 3 sets without a struggle though, the last 2-3 reps of each should be a struggle even if you cant finish them). Also you may want to look into a circuit for each workout(upper body, back, legs) or design your own circuit where you flow right from one excercise to the next with very minimal breaks in between.

Just my opinion

alexbusnello · July 2012

That isn't to much, but I'd leave one of those rest/cardio days as a rest day (maybe add a weekend outing).

As long as you are properly fueling your body with adequate calories (protien, carbs, good fat etc..) cardio shouldn't hinder your progress in conjunction with lifting. That being said, if you hate cardio, don't stress to squeeze in X # of hours each week. Lifting and calorie deficit can work without it (but your overall cardiovascular fitness won't improve much).

I personally love cardio so...even when I'm lifting (its cycling season right now-haven't lifted a finger lately) I try to lift 3-4 days a week (I do ~15 minutes of light cardio before I lift to warmup and then depending on the time/energy add 20-30 more after I lift) and have at least 1 cardio day, minumum 1 hour.

Good luck

Thank you.

So leave the rest days for rest only? That's what I usually do but I wanted to try everyday but maybe it's safer to only do cardio when I lift.

alexbusnello · July 2012

that's not true at all. You can in fact lose fat and build muscle, however its hard to LOSE WEIGHT and build muscle at the same time. As far as cardio goes more than 30 minutes at a time I've been told starts to burn muscle. Also a good routine would be something like:

Monday: Upper body, back
Tuesday: cardio 30-60min
Wednesday: lower body
Thursday: off
Friday: core/cardio (something like a Core Class will get your heart rate going as much as standard Cardio excercises)
Saturday: off
Sunday: cardio 30 - 60min

Also with >100lb to lose I would focus more on loss than build right now so for your lifting days do high rep, low weight(not low enough that you can finish all 15 reps x 3 sets without a struggle though, the last 2-3 reps of each should be a struggle even if you cant finish them). Also you may want to look into a circuit for each workout(upper body, back, legs) or design your own circuit where you flow right from one excercise to the next with very minimal breaks in between.

Just my opinion

I did that style before with Bodyrock and that's the program that caused me to lose muscles and get fatter..

Awkward30 · July 2012

Oh also, I know what you're saying, I did it wrong too and ended up putting on almost 10 lb. It's not about the amount of activity, it's about the calorie deficit. So in restarting, I'm eating REALLY close to maintenance and going REALLY slow. I like cardio or I'd cut it down just because I don't need it to create a negative energy balance.

Also, your training split isn't very good. You would be better off doing a totl body workout 3 days a week, since you really are supposed to hit muscle groups at least twice a week. When I lift more and cardio less, I do

upper
lower
rest
upper
lower
rest
rest, maybe HIIT

where rest is actual rest or steady state cardio.

taylor5877 · July 2012

if the goal is to build muscle, however much cardio makes it too much for you to be able to eat back and then some.

Unless you're an absolute newbie, you HAVE to eat at a surplus to put actual pound of muscle on.

Strength doesn't equal size all the time.

neverstray · July 2012

I'm glad I'm really clear as to what to do.

invictus8 · July 2012

Your best bet is to (1) lose weight to a low body fat percentage while doing resistance training (so that you maintain your lean body mass) and once you reach that level (2) calibrate your caloric intake slightly above your body mass (and progressively lift heavier weights).

You can't gain muscle while losing fat, but you can maintain what you have. Then, once you're at your desired body fat percentage (usually around 8-15% for men, much higher for women for obvious reasons) you actually benefit from your lower body fat because a higher percentage of your excess calories will become converted to muscle than fat.

I often hear people advising others to "bulk up" before "cutting" but this is not good advice -- your body more efficiently converts calories to muscle at a lower body fat percentage! Plus it's better for your health to have a lower body fat percentage.

rides4sanity · July 2012

That isn't to much, but I'd leave one of those rest/cardio days as a rest day (maybe add a weekend outing).

As long as you are properly fueling your body with adequate calories (protien, carbs, good fat etc..) cardio shouldn't hinder your progress in conjunction with lifting. That being said, if you hate cardio, don't stress to squeeze in X # of hours each week. Lifting and calorie deficit can work without it (but your overall cardiovascular fitness won't improve much).

I personally love cardio so...even when I'm lifting (its cycling season right now-haven't lifted a finger lately) I try to lift 3-4 days a week (I do ~15 minutes of light cardio before I lift to warmup and then depending on the time/energy add 20-30 more after I lift) and have at least 1 cardio day, minumum 1 hour.

Good luck

Thank you.

So leave the rest days for rest only? That's what I usually do but I wanted to try everyday but maybe it's safer to only do cardio when I lift.

Not exactly what I was saying, you can use one for cardio one for rest. Five days straight is a lot, but five days a week is fine, I'd just work 3 -rest 1- work 2 - rest 1. Mix it up.

lizziebeth1028 · July 2012

I also want to burn fat but I'm unable to do HIIT workouts right now or whatever you call them. Lol I lost quite s bit if muscle mass everywhere from over training and eating too little and not resting long enough in the past and I've gained flab and bulging fat everywhere. My bones are easier to feel now, too. I have fat where I haven't had since I was younger when it was "baby fat".

I did chest, shoulders and arms yesterday with 20 minute wii fit run and was wondering if it would be too much to do more cardio today - 20, maybe 30 minute. Tomorrow I do core and maybe with cardio, then the next day I either rest or cardio and then lower body.

Monday: Upper body, back, cardio?
Tuesday: rest or cardio
Wednesday: core and cardio?
Thursday: rest or cardio
Friday: lower body and cardio?

Yesterday I realized I didn't do my back so I'll mix it in with my core tomorrow.

And when I rest, I don't move a whole lot... There's not much to do and my family is in a bad spot right now.
How much cardio is safe for wanting to build lean muscle but burning fat? I always hear that too much cardio can hinder muscle growth but how much is too much? Should I wait to do that much cardio till I rebuild my muscles back to burn the fat covering them?

From you've written above - It looks like in the past you have burned yourself out with too much cardio, too much working out, no rest days and too little food. From your ticker it looks like you are trying to gain weight? With all these factors I would say go easy with the cardio, a little break from it will not hurt you. Focus on strength and regaining muscle mass, nourish your body! And a rest day is a rest day!!!! Is healthy your goal? Then learn to cut yourself some slack once in awhile.

lporter229 · July 2012

bump

DavPul · July 2012

you can honestly do however much cardio you want so long as you eat to support your activity levels. there's going to be an impact in terms of how strong you may feel in the gym, e.g., running hills kills lower body days for me, but it's just something your body has to grow accustomed to.

This statement is as false as false can be. I do hope no one takes this advice. I'm sure he meant well, but it's just plain wrong.

meerkat70 · July 2012

you can honestly do however much cardio you want so long as you eat to support your activity levels. there's going to be an impact in terms of how strong you may feel in the gym, e.g., running hills kills lower body days for me, but it's just something your body has to grow accustomed to.

This statement is as false as false can be. I do hope no one takes this advice. I'm sure he meant well, but it's just plain wrong.

Looks like it's really holding him back:

squat: 500x20
deadlift: 500x20
bench: 315x20
ohp: 315x1
chins: bw + 100x10
dips bw + 200x10
curls: 185x10
c&j: 315x10

almc170 · July 2012

you can honestly do however much cardio you want so long as you eat to support your activity levels. there's going to be an impact in terms of how strong you may feel in the gym, e.g., running hills kills lower body days for me, but it's just something your body has to grow accustomed to.

This statement is as false as false can be. I do hope no one takes this advice. I'm sure he meant well, but it's just plain wrong.

Looks like it's really holding him back:

squat: 500x20
deadlift: 500x20
bench: 315x20
ohp: 315x1
chins: bw + 100x10
dips bw + 200x10
curls: 185x10
c&j: 315x10

Look a little more closely--those are his GOALS, not his stats.

meerkat70 · July 2012

Look a little more closely--those are his GOALS, not his stats.

*blush* :-D

That's what I get for being smartarsed. :-)

warnott · July 2012

you can honestly do however much cardio you want so long as you eat to support your activity levels. there's going to be an impact in terms of how strong you may feel in the gym, e.g., running hills kills lower body days for me, but it's just something your body has to grow accustomed to.

This statement is as false as false can be. I do hope no one takes this advice. I'm sure he meant well, but it's just plain wrong.

Looks like it's really holding him back:

squat: 500x20
deadlift: 500x20
bench: 315x20
ohp: 315x1
chins: bw + 100x10
dips bw + 200x10
curls: 185x10
c&j: 315x10

Look a little more closely--those are his GOALS, not his stats.

no i've actually reached all my goals. :laugh:

i guess i should have put a caveat with what i said - "don't be an idiot." training for a marathon and preparing for a bodybuilding show at the same time prolly won't work. doing conditioning work, even several hours a week, will not hold you back from getting bigger or stronger so long as you eat enough.

i don't understand how people who say weight is a matter of 'calories in/calories out' can actually argue that any reasonable amount - short of preparing for multiple-hour-long events - of sustained effort or interval training can make a difference other than needing to get more calories in.

whiteheaddg · July 2012

you can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time. cardio does NOT burn fat, it burns calories. you lose fat by eating less calories than your body burns. you build muscle by eating more calories than your body burns combined with progressive overload resistance training and rest.

More or less true. If you haven't trained in a long time you might be able to do a little bit of both for a few months, but then you have to prioritize.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html This guide has a lot of good information. I'm more or less planning to cut to 19-20% then bulk to maybe 23-24% and then go back down. I don't like my look about 25% so I won't ever purposely do that.

Thank you for posting this link - been looking for something like this.

DopeItUp · July 2012

you can honestly do however much cardio you want so long as you eat to support your activity levels. there's going to be an impact in terms of how strong you may feel in the gym, e.g., running hills kills lower body days for me, but it's just something your body has to grow accustomed to.

This statement is as false as false can be. I do hope no one takes this advice. I'm sure he meant well, but it's just plain wrong.

Looks like it's really holding him back:

squat: 500x20
deadlift: 500x20
bench: 315x20
ohp: 315x1
chins: bw + 100x10
dips bw + 200x10
curls: 185x10
c&j: 315x10

Those are some pretty lofty goals. Probably aspires to be a strongman competitor someday? Those guys are like 300lb++ monsters. I'm guessing they do zero cardio, for what it's worth.

DopeItUp · July 2012

As for the OP, I'd definitely minimize cardio. Cardio isn't a bad thing to do, it's definitely good to improve conditioning and strengthen your heart and such. But trying to put on muscle means eating a surplus and doing cardio just means you have to eat even more to maintain that surplus so you can continue to gain muscle. I'd keep it as minimal as possible and focus on getting your calories in and your heavy lifts done.

warnott · July 2012

you can honestly do however much cardio you want so long as you eat to support your activity levels. there's going to be an impact in terms of how strong you may feel in the gym, e.g., running hills kills lower body days for me, but it's just something your body has to grow accustomed to.

This statement is as false as false can be. I do hope no one takes this advice. I'm sure he meant well, but it's just plain wrong.

Looks like it's really holding him back:

squat: 500x20
deadlift: 500x20
bench: 315x20
ohp: 315x1
chins: bw + 100x10
dips bw + 200x10
curls: 185x10
c&j: 315x10

Those are some pretty lofty goals. Probably aspires to be a strongman competitor someday? Those guys are like 300lb++ monsters. I'm guessing they do zero cardio, for what it's worth.

if by cardio you mean long, slow, distance running, mostly not. and they prolly wouldn't fare well in distance events. but that's more because, like you said, they're as big as they are. if you want to compete in strongman you would still have to do very hard conditioning. it's not a one-off strength test like powerlifting.

alexis831 · July 2012

I lost fat and built muscle at the same time while on a deficit regardless of these people who say it can’t be done.

Went from 19.7% body fat to my current 16.3% the last 2 months (started at 25% after birth). My weight staid the same and I lost inches everywhere. Therefore, since my weight staid almost the same and I lost inches and since I dropped 3.5% body fat that means I built muscle. Its all about your body and how it works. Genetically I build muscle fast and have to be careful and not eat a lot of protein and have a huge deficit and so on. Perhaps yours has issues building it? Fin out what works for you however here are some good pointers for those who are trying to build muscle. Don’t do too much cardio (30 min max)and limit yourself to 3x a week. Do weights 3x a week and make them heavy. 2 sets of no more then 10 reps will help. Don’t have a deficit or don’t have a huge one. Eat lots of protein and look into protein shakes. Look at focusing on one thing at a time like loose the weight, then later gaining muscle since it is hard to do both… even tho I can. These are all things you can choose to do. Good luck and really get to know your body and what works for you!

iWaffle · July 2012

Lol I lost quite s bit if muscle mass everywhere from over training and eating too little and not resting long enough in the past and I've gained flab and bulging fat everywhere.

I did chest, shoulders and arms yesterday with 20 minute wii fit run and was wondering if it would be too much to do more cardio today - 20, maybe 30 minute.

Don't forget that just like losing weight is about calories, so is building muscles. Now, on muscle preservation let's first of all make sure you're getting enough calories and that a significant amount of that is protein. Just stick with the basic 1 gram per pound of body weight. More is okay, less is tolerable but don't skimp too much. Make sure you're eating enough each day so that the scale isn't dropping. We want body composition change, not a weight loss.

Cardio, 4-5 days a week max and no more than 30 minutes at a time. My personal belief is that you should do it first thing in the morning in a fasted state, otherwise do it right after strength training. Skip cardio on lower body day. If you do this right you're too wiped out to do cardio. Leg training burns through tons of calories on its own.

Strength training, work those muscles. If your body is busy rebuilding and repairing muscle damage it's less likely to want to consume them as calories.

Food Timing. Try to have a good quality amount of protein right after your strength training and if you want to really optimize this go lighter on carbs on non-strength days and heavier, still getting adequate protein, on strength days.

Take a couple days off each week for recovery, get plenty of sleep, exercise like a beast, and watch those calories (Not too low or too high). If you're a 21 year old female in the condition you described you can make some great newb gains and gain some muscle mass and strength (for sure strength) while still losing some body fat. Take your time. This isn't a race. Dedicate yourself to this and you can do it.

Azdak · July 2012

I also want to burn fat but I'm unable to do HIIT workouts right now or whatever you call them. Lol I lost quite s bit if muscle mass everywhere from over training and eating too little and not resting long enough in the past and I've gained flab and bulging fat everywhere. My bones are easier to feel now, too. I have fat where I haven't had since I was younger when it was "baby fat".

I did chest, shoulders and arms yesterday with 20 minute wii fit run and was wondering if it would be too much to do more cardio today - 20, maybe 30 minute. Tomorrow I do core and maybe with cardio, then the next day I either rest or cardio and then lower body.

Monday: Upper body, back, cardio?
Tuesday: rest or cardio
Wednesday: core and cardio?
Thursday: rest or cardio
Friday: lower body and cardio?

Yesterday I realized I didn't do my back so I'll mix it in with my core tomorrow.

And when I rest, I don't move a whole lot... There's not much to do and my family is in a bad spot right now.
How much cardio is safe for wanting to build lean muscle but burning fat? I always hear that too much cardio can hinder muscle growth but how much is too much? Should I wait to do that much cardio till I rebuild my muscles back to burn the fat covering them?

"Too much cardio" can hinder muscle growth if you are trying to become a bodybuilder or add a large amount of muscle mass. The average person won't notice a whole lot of difference. (And what you are describing is not "too much cardio" by any definition).

hesn92 · July 2012

I figured you can still do a little cardio as long as you eat enough. I don't know though? I am trying to build muscle and I don't do any cardio at all. when I get too fat I'll start to cut and then I think I'll have to find a form of cardio that I can stand. I'm thinking swimming.

alexbusnello · July 2012

Thank you everyone.

I need to buy heavier weights. I'm lifting 7.5 lbs right now from only 5 lbs because that's all I had along with body weight. That's all I have to work with right now - 5 lbs weights, 7.5 and my own body weight.

I was doing Bodyrock but did it through the entire week with no rest days. My rest days were only the weekend and I didn't eat enough...

I regret doing that so badly..... I realize now how awesome my body looked before Bodyrock and joining this site because it's gotten me obsessed with counting everything and I've lost sleep over it. Ever since I joined, things got worse. Then I did Bodyrock without knowledge if properly fueling your body and now Im paying for it.

My belly is bigger, I have a muffin top I've Never had before, big pockets of armpit fat, larger "bat wings", the bra fat bulge I've never had before, larger thighs, saggier butt, thicker waist ( I lost my lean look and curves), I look broader with fat, I have bad knees and joints now, my hair is really falling out, I have mood swings, dry skin more often, everything jiggles, back fat...

I was skinny before, fit, lean. Now I see what everyone else did. At the time I didn't.

I see older pictures or videos of me back in Febuary, before Valentines day, and I get so depressed and think, "Alex, why did you do this to yourself? You should have listened to your family, friends and your boyfriend."

I'm so afraid that this is going to take a really long time for me to get back to where I was.....

I feel so stupid.... : (

I only did 2 weeks and 1/2 of the Bodyrock 30 day challenge and it did this much damage to me. I regret it so badly... I keep thinking that if I didn't even hear of this Bodyrock, I'd be fine right now. My friend got me to do the challenge with her but I regret it.

At first I got stronger and built some muscles, but then I started losing them, fast. The first thing I noticed was my knees filled up with fluid and it felt like they were going to snap. After that, I noticed my body changing for the worst.

I want my body back so badly...

How much is too much cardio when trying to build muscles?

Replies

Categories