Muscle gain from cardio?

if the cardio is new, you may be retaining water. Are you taking measurements? I always notice that even when my scale doesn't budge or even goes up a lb or two, my shape is changing.

Like those above have said, it could easily be water retention. Are you keeping a record of your sodium intake, and are you drinking enough water during the day? These are essential most of the time, especially when you're focusing primarily on cardio.

Tell that to my legs and if the muscle stops growing there from all the cardio I might believe you. Truth is depends on the workout and the diet. Cardio and muscle growth are not mutually exclusive. Now having cast the shot across the bow of that ship...break it down...

Muscles are grown primarily through the tearing of the tissue and then the body repair mechanism. So to grow muscles your workout has to create micro tears and your diet needs to provide the correct nutriements (mostly protein) to buld them back up. Cardio will only consume muscle if you do so in a manner consistent with kicking over into body tissue consumption on an extented period of time (for most people about 40 minutes).

You can gain some muscle from cardio but only to a small extent. Your body/muscles will quickly adapt to cardio. I think what people see from doing cardio is a reduction of fat, which makes the body appear to be more muscular. That said, cardio is an ineffective way to build muscle, while lifting weights IS an effective way to gain muscle, being that you can always increase the weights so your body doesn't adapt to lifting. That is how muscles are "torn down". When I see someone who runs have legs that look like someone who squats 400lbs, then I might buy into what you're saying.

That said, no way can one gain 2.5lbs of muscle doing cardio. It's hard enough gaining that much muscle by lifting weights.

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If you could build muscle doing cardio we wouldn't have need for heavy plates, bars and racks...be cheaper that's for sure...:laugh:

Tell that to my legs and if the muscle stops growing there from all the cardio I might believe you. Truth is depends on the workout and the diet. Cardio and muscle growth are not mutually exclusive. Now having cast the shot across the bow of that ship...break it down...

Muscles are grown primarily through the tearing of the tissue and then the body repair mechanism. So to grow muscles your workout has to create micro tears and your diet needs to provide the correct nutriements (mostly protein) to buld them back up. Cardio will only consume muscle if you do so in a manner consistent with kicking over into body tissue consumption on an extented period of time (for most people about 40 minutes).

You can gain some muscle from cardio but only to a small extent. Your body/muscles will quickly adapt to cardio. I think what people see from doing cardio is a reduction of fat, which makes the body appear to be more muscular. That said, cardio is an ineffective way to build muscle, while lifting weights IS an effective way to gain muscle, being that you can always increase the weights so your body doesn't adapt to lifting. That is how muscles are "torn down". When I see someone who runs have legs that look like someone who squats 400lbs, then I might buy into what you're saying.

That said, no way can one gain 2.5lbs of muscle doing cardio. It's hard enough gaining that much muscle by lifting weights.

Yeah,. that's why I've put an inch and half on my calves since I started doing cardio.. it's fat going away.

So much bad broscience from the 80s being repeated as fact.

your body IS a weight. When you start doing cardio from a dead stop, you are effectively lifting weights.

Is it true that someone who is already at an extreme level of low body fat, and right on the knife edge maintaining vs building, will have to go into a surplus to build muscle? Sure.

But guys like me, carrying an extra 40 or 50 lbs, who have been on a couch, effectively for years, will convert to muscle, and build muscle, without hitting the lat tower. Not as fast, mind you, but it will happen.

Initially if you're pushing/pulling at a much higher weight than you used to be, you'll gain some newbie muscle, but load has to progress (meaning you'd have to gain weight) to continue to build. If one is losing weight, then the resistance is being reduced.

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In for all the derp...and building 2.5 Lbs of muscle in two weeks...and in for all of the people that actually believe that is possible....derpilicious....

Yeah,. that's why I've put an inch and half on my calves since I started doing cardio.. it's fat going away.

So much bad broscience from the 80s being repeated as fact.

your body IS a weight. When you start doing cardio from a dead stop, you are effectively lifting weights.

Is it true that someone who is already at an extreme level of low body fat, and right on the knife edge maintaining vs building, will have to go into a surplus to build muscle? Sure.

But guys like me, carrying an extra 40 or 50 lbs, who have been on a couch, effectively for years, will convert to muscle , and build muscle, without hitting the lat tower. Not as fast, mind you, but it will happen.

The laws of adaptation for muscle growth being broscience and your logic that "fat will convert to muscle" (LOL) tells me you need to do a little more research on the topic.

Initially if you're pushing/pulling at a much higher weight than you used to be, you'll gain some newbie muscle, but load has to progress (meaning you'd have to gain weight) to continue to build. If one is losing weight, then the resistance is being reduced.

Exactly ^^^ (as I mentioned in my OP)

Yeah,. that's why I've put an inch and half on my calves since I started doing cardio.. it's fat going away.

So much bad broscience from the 80s being repeated as fact.

your body IS a weight. When you start doing cardio from a dead stop, you are effectively lifting weights.

Is it true that someone who is already at an extreme level of low body fat, and right on the knife edge maintaining vs building, will have to go into a surplus to build muscle? Sure.

But guys like me, carrying an extra 40 or 50 lbs, who have been on a couch, effectively for years, will convert to muscle , and build muscle, without hitting the lat tower. Not as fast, mind you, but it will happen.

The laws of adaptation for muscle growth being broscience and your logic that "fat will convert to muscle" (LOL) tells me you need to do a little more research on the topic.

Initially if you're pushing/pulling at a much higher weight than you used to be, you'll gain some newbie muscle, but load has to progress (meaning you'd have to gain weight) to continue to build. If one is losing weight, then the resistance is being reduced.

Exactly ^^^ (as I mentioned in my OP)

On point. This is what happened with me when I ran the whole month of January. My legs got bigger too, and I gained weight, but it's only water weight, not muscle growth. It's virtually impossible to put 2.5 pounds of muscle on in a week (barring all unnatural methods like steroids).

Yeah,. that's why I've put an inch and half on my calves since I started doing cardio.. it's fat going away.

So much bad broscience from the 80s being repeated as fact.

your body IS a weight. When you start doing cardio from a dead stop, you are effectively lifting weights.

Is it true that someone who is already at an extreme level of low body fat, and right on the knife edge maintaining vs building, will have to go into a surplus to build muscle? Sure.

But guys like me, carrying an extra 40 or 50 lbs, who have been on a couch, effectively for years, will convert to muscle , and build muscle, without hitting the lat tower. Not as fast, mind you, but it will happen.

The laws of adaptation for muscle growth being broscience and your logic that "fat will convert to muscle" (LOL) tells me you need to do a little more research on the topic.

Initially if you're pushing/pulling at a much higher weight than you used to be, you'll gain some newbie muscle, but load has to progress (meaning you'd have to gain weight) to continue to build. If one is losing weight, then the resistance is being reduced.

Exactly ^^^ (as I mentioned in my OP)

No, fat won't convert to muscle. It will convert to energy. and the protein you are taking in SHOULD convert to muscle. I never said "Fat would convert to muscle".

As I said, nowhere near the level you are going to get to with weightlifting, or bulk/cut. but that's a different animal entirely.

Flat statements like "you cannot build muscle while on a deficit" are so nebulous as to be useless, without specifics regarding what people are doing, what shape they are in to start with, and how they are eating.