Trying to gain muscle. Why no cardio?

In any case, a constant advice from people telling me how to build muscle is basically "avoid cardio." Why?

It's bad advice. There is no reason to avoid cardio, and many reasons to include it. Here's what 4 hours a day of elite intensity cardio can look like...

As long as you're a genetic freak......right?

that being said- that guy isn't that big. He's lean-and obviously delicious- but he's not big. which if you are trying to get BIGGER and bulk... well- the point should be self evident.

Agreed, Ronaldo isn't the biggest dude in the world.

I've heard over 30 minutes of cardio can eat into muscle mass - however - I've seen plenty of runners who are bulky and when I was weight lifting my 45 minute runs didn't eat into anything. (back in the 80's when most of the guys I lifted with also ran- and they were freaking huge!!) I still think it's cals in - cals out.

ok - thanks to all the folks who've chimed in to my questions regarding gaining some muscle. Now just to clarify, I'm only looking to put on about 10lbs max.

In any case, a constant advice from people telling me how to build muscle is basically "avoid cardio." Why?

How does cardio prevent you from building muscle? Is it because you're burning excess calories in cardio? In that case, should I just eat more?

Or is it something like "cardio releases too much lactic acid, and causes your muscles to break down, blah blah blah..."?

I really would like to be able to put on muscle in addition to continuing to work my cardio, because the sports that I enjoy demand a good level of cardio. I'm only looking to put on some muscle to help my explosiveness and power (think speed more than heavy weight). Yes, Power is a function of strength, but it's a function of strength over time, so the faster I can move something, the better

Thanks to all the people who share their knowledge and experience on the forum.

Currently training for a marathon and I am not exactly on the skinny side.

You can do cardio and build muscle, you just got to understand some fundamentals. Steady state cardio is not your enemy for muscle growth, calorie deficits and nutritional timing are when it comes to cardio.

this is pretty much the biggest issue though. stead state cardio does great things for weight loss- it creates a larger calorie deficit.

it also does the same thing for bulking- but the down side of this is- it means you have to eat more. which is why it can be harder to fit in.

Cardio means more food- if you are already struggling with getting a surplus- then adding more cardio isn't going to be doing yourself any favors. ... even if you LOVE cardio.

Intense cardio longer than a certain time limit (not sure what it is, need some scientific studies, but lets just say 15 minutes HIIT) is catabolic, it necessarily starts the process of muscle breakdown. And of course, burns calories but this can be offset with eating.

This is why you'll see professional bodybuilders do 2 types of cardio. Low Intensity stuff for an hour (walking, slow stairmaster) or 10 minutes of HIIT.

Just dont go running a half marathon every week.

OMG so much bad advice here.
You are not going to lose muscle if you are using it until the vast majority of your fat stores are diminished this occurs once you reach around 4% body fat (for men, higher for women).
You can do cardio - for now to get any excess fat off but once its low then you will need to decrease the amount of cardio you do - not because your body is going to eat your muscle but because you will have to eat a substantial amount in order to GAIN muscle.

OMG so much bad advice here.
You are not going to lose muscle if you are using it until the vast majority of your fat stores are diminished this occurs once you reach around 4% body fat (for men, higher for women).
You can do cardio - for now to get any excess fat off but once its low then you will need to decrease the amount of cardio you do - not because your body is going to eat your muscle but because you will have to eat a substantial amount in order to GAIN muscle.

No, if you stay with below lactate threshold you will burn fat. Over that and your body just cannot burn fat fast enough and then if your liver and muscle glycogen is used up, you will start to break down muscle. Sorry! It happened to me, doing far too much sprinting for triathlon training, without a good enough base fitness (we are talking 22 min 5ks-fast), bit of a calorie deficit and BAM. Loss of LBM and to top it off, FAT gain from small periods of over eating.


Ps I'd always always be careful about jumping to conclusions here. Been burned a couple times. Good learning though!

Jesus... Edit...quote...grrrr

I'm not sure if this was posted yet or not, but here's a great article on performing cardio while gaining mass.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/cardio-and-mass-gains.html

Here's the summary if you don't want to read the entire article:

"So summing up, under most circumstances, I think keeping a reasonable amount of moderate intensity cardio in the training program, even when the goal is explicitly mass gaining can be beneficial for most trainees (the major exception being the extreme hardgainer types)."

But, I think there is something more for the OP to consider.. you state that you want to gain some muscle, but your true goal is to gain more power. Power (strength over time) is created primarily by the fast twitch muscle fibers. However, low to medium intensity steady-state cardio uses Type I muscle fibers where high intensity exercises use primarily Type II muscle fibers (IIa and IIb). Research is mixed, but indicates that the body can "transform" the Type IIa (intermediate) fibers into slow twitch when slow and steady cardio is performed regularly.

So, with that being said, cardio during mass-building is fine - in fact there are numerous benefits. However, excessive slow, steady-state cardio may have a negative impact on your power generation in the long run. Just some things to think about.

As long as you're a genetic freak......right?