Does Cardio Kill Muscle Gains?

Cardio might be scary for any guy or gal seeking to construct serious muscle. After all, the concept that cardio kills gains has been circulating around the load room for years. So, is it bad to do cardio in case you’re attempting to construct muscle?

The answer: only in case you do it the improper way. Read on to seek out out find out how to keep cardio from messing together with your muscle gains.

Does Cardio Make You Lose Muscle?

There are a pair of how cardio can interfere together with your gains:

Same-day workouts

If you tackle cardio and strength in the identical training session, your body won’t give you the option to adapt to either activity in addition to you’d prefer it to.

“Your goal with exercise is to stimulate your body to adapt,” says William P. KelleyD.P.T., A.T.C., C.S.C.S. “To keep muscle and cardio gains, you have to give these adaptations time to occur and the tools, or food, prior to throwing one other stimulus at it.”

In other words, in case you lift heavy after which head out for a run, your body will de-prioritize the strength training adaptations with the intention to fuel your run.

Switching it up probably won’t help either. If you do cardio before strength training, you might tire yourself out and ultimately limit how much — and the way hard — you possibly can lift.

In fact, a study within the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found that when a gaggle of healthy men did cardio before strength training, they accomplished fewer repetitions, had less muscular power, and experienced a rise in perceived exertion during their strength session.

Poor fueling (not getting enough carbs)

Cardio can cut into your muscle gains in case you do it without fueling properly. And in the case of cardio, carbs are your best friend.

“If your body doesn’t have sufficient carbohydrates at its disposal, it’s going to start to interrupt down proteins and amino acids for fuel, which might negate or barely reverse muscle growth and gains,” Kelley explains.

How to Prevent Cardio from Hindering Muscle Gain

Cardiovascular fitness is a key piece of overall health, and aerobic exercise (or a mix of aerobic and anaerobic, a la HIIT) is the very best solution to achieve this.

So, it’s necessary to work out find out how to incorporate cardio into your routine — without compromising your muscle gains.

1. Take a break between workouts (not less than 12 hours)

One solution to check off the cardio box without derailing your progress in the load room is to do the 2 activities on different days, though you might give you the option to get away with separating the workouts by 12 hours in case you’re dying to do each the identical day, Kelley says.

Sure, you might find yourself understanding more often in the course of the week, but not less than you’ll give you the option to do each workout to the fullest. And your body can have the possibility to adapt to every stimulus before tackling one other.

2. Focus on proper nutrition

It’s also necessary to be sure that you’re fueling properly to your cardio workouts, which suggests… healthy sources of carbs, protein, and fat. Carbs and fats are the fuel sources your body primarily relies on to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the chemical that powers working muscles.

“The technique of turning protein into ATP is way harder than turning carbs and fats into ATP, so [your body] will take the simpler option so long as it’s available,” Kelley explains.

Protein can also be vital. Whether you’re counting bench press reps or logging miles, your muscles are driving your effort, they usually require protein for repair and recovery.

3. Fuel up on carbs

Exactly what number of carbs you’ll need depends largely on the duration and intensity of the exercise. However, the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) offers a general suggestion of 5 to 12 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight per day (g/kg/d).

But unless you exercise at a moderate to high intensity for 12 hours per week, keep on with the lower and middle portion of the range.

What Kind of Cardio Should You Do?

First, aim to get not less than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio every week, as advisable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Great cardio options include walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, and rowing.

However, in case your goal is to construct muscle, your best bet could also be high-intensity, short-duration cardio (i.e., HIIT), Kelley says. “This approach to cardio training actually aids within the muscle growth stimulus because it’s more power-based,” he adds.