Does too much cardio effect muscle growth?

I recently read a good article on this. simplyshredded.com/the-ultimate-female-training-guide.html It's geared towards women, but seems relevant all around.

Seems that bulking for men requires heavy weights and positive caloric intake of proper nutrient proportions. I have heard that long bouts of cardio can negatively affect increasing muscle because it's burning the calories you need to build muscles. Male trainers I've known have told me they only do cardio periodically for cardiovascular health but limit it overall so they don't lose muscle mass.

I'm preparing myself to start a heavy lifting program with a caloric deficit for weight loss so I've been doing a lot of research. The above statement seems like a consensus across most sites.

There is a compromise and that depends on your goals and your priorities. A moderate amount of cardio doesn't "burn muscle" if that's what you are afraid of. It's remarkably difficult to use muscle as fuel.

But if you are compromising either your muscle recovery from a weights session or your performance during your weights session is affected by fatigue from cardio then yes, there is an impact.

There's plenty of people who successfully combine both cardio and strength goals. There's also plenty of people who do 100% or one of the other. Different training for different goals.

First thing you should look at is your weight training program IMHO - a sub optimal program will give sub optimal results irrespective of the amount of cardio you do.

sijomial wrote: »

There is a compromise and that depends on your goals and your priorities. A moderate amount of cardio doesn't "burn muscle" if that's what you are afraid of. It's remarkably difficult to use muscle as fuel.

But if you are compromising either your muscle recovery from a weights session or your performance during your weights session is affected by fatigue from cardio then yes, there is an impact.

There's plenty of people who successfully combine both cardio and strength goals. There's also plenty of people who do 100% or one of the other. Different training for different goals.

First thing you should look at is your weight training program IMHO - a sub optimal program will give sub optimal results irrespective of the amount of cardio you do.

If your goal is to bulk up, increasing the weight/intensity of strength workouts and decreasing cardio to 2-3 hours will accomplish your gains. Of course, you will need to check your macros and increase your protein intake.

Firstly , any calculation that comes up with a calorific burn of 700 an hour needs questioning.

Secondly as the others have said, an insufficient intake will not help bulking, and lots of cardio will make this harder (unless you have no trouble getting 3k + calories a day in )

Azdak wrote: »

Cardio doesn't prevent gains, but a lot of cardio can inhibit maximal gains. Some research I have seen suggests than movements w/a greater eccentric component (eg running) are more negative than others (walking, cycling).

This sums things up perfectly. Most of your muscle gains are about your diet. You need excess calories to increase muscle mass. You can still gain muscle and run 50 miles a week but not as much as if you didn't run that much. You'll just need to eat a lot more. Of course if you're trying to get 100% out of your strength workouts you'll have to cut back on the cardio. Up to 30 minutes a day shouldn't change much of anything on your strength training.

erickirb wrote: »

I would also add to Azdak's advice that if your cardio is hard core (intense) it can affect muscle gain if you do not allow the muscles to recover between lifting session due to too much cardio.

Since cardio is typically done with the lower body the leg workouts are the real issue. I could do a killer chest/back workout and then run the next morning sore as can be and it doesn't prevent you from recovery. Running after squats/deadlifts, etc is the real issue. That's just a balance that everyone needs to determine for himself/herself. Obviously you can't maximize strength and running endurance at the same time. Put more emphasis on whichever side you're more interested in.

Azdak wrote: »

Cardio doesn't prevent gains, but a lot of cardio can inhibit maximal gains.

As usual, Azdak manages to summarize it in one straightforward sentence.

:drinker: