Cardio isn’t killing your gains

Transform

It’s often said that doing cardio will limit your
Capacity to put on muscle. I’ve always disagreed and noticed
For most it was down to not eating enough and people wanted to use it as an excuse to not have to do cardio

Early paper on this below


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29658408/

Chancer3001

Well you've answered your own point twice there

1st you said people have a shortcoming in getting in enough calories. Adding cardio is only going to make this deficit larger

2nd it says pretty clearly in your study that cycling negatively affects both strength and hypertrophy in lower body . So you have to be more specific

Maybe running doesn't, but maybe running also takes more impact, leaving you unable to put as much effort into leg day...and so less leg gainzzzzzzz

Transform

Chancer3001 wrote: »

Well you've answered your own point twice there

1st you said people have a shortcoming in getting in enough calories. Adding cardio is only going to make this deficit larger

2nd it says pretty clearly in your study that cycling negatively affects both strength and hypertrophy in lower body . So you have to be more specific

Maybe running doesn't, but maybe running also takes more impact, leaving you unable to put as much effort into leg day...and so less leg gainzzzzzzz

what i notice when working with guys or girls that say they're struggling to put on weight -
1. They chronically under eat
2. When they start actually tracking then bumping up calories by 500-1000 per day isnt as hard as they thought
3. Some are addicted to being lean and skinny so never change

Doing 10-20mins of cardio 3-4 times per week, that will potentially burn 150-200 cals is NOT going to make a massive dent in ones ability to gain muscle and if it is then see above.

Yes re cycling but think youll see more research on this topic using a range of modalities to elevate HR (e.g. metcons or multimodal exercise) and know for sure you'd see no negative effects if the conditioning performed was lower intensity which will help for muscle recovery and regeneration from hard sessions.

seefin

I commute to work so cycle an hour each day. Also walk dogs for 2 hours a day. Do strength training 3 times a week but am not building muscle since my beginner gains the first year. Assigned lack of progress to being over 40 but at back of mind wondering if the cycling etc is more the issue. The cycling is medium intensity but alot of hills

JayRoc

Meta-Analysis here that essentially says running will interfere with Strength/Hypertrophy but cycling alone will not

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22002517

JayRoc

My own experience with trainees is that moderate cardio, other than running (rower, stationary bike etc) does not tend to interfere with strength gains, and there is definitely an irrational fear of interference that seems pretty baseless. A half-decent aerobic base is a good thing for pretty much everyone and undoubtedly assists recovery.

Alf Veedersane

Greg Nuckols had some good articles on it here and here.

What you do and when you do it are important considerations though.

Sangre

I always presumed that the public perception on this topic was similar to the concerns about the risk of over-training. Yes, while it is a potential risk for some athletes, it is not relevant for the vast majority of the training population.

Transform

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Greg Nuckols had some good articles on it here and here.

What you do and when you do it are important considerations though.

same as nutrition - always the answer is "it depends"

Transform

Sangre wrote: »

I always presumed that the public perception on this topic was similar to the concerns about the risk of over-training. Yes, while it is a potential risk for some athletes, it is not relevant for the vast majority of the training population.

Exactly and i would rank having a fairly decent aerobic base as being pretty high on the priority list of overall fitness as long as its built in conjunction with improved mobility and passable levels of strength particularly on body weight movements and your capacity to lift at least body weight on squats and deadlifts.

Overall -

for those looking to gain muscle there tends to be an overemphasis on strength work only (often times only ever done within higher rep ranges and the same split all the time) and how much protein can you consume

For those looking to drop body fat there is a massive bias towards crushing high intensity workouts and how aggressive can you diet

Solution - vary workouts more, over and under doing cardio in whatever form it takes is a bad idea, gymshark clothing and pointing at your mate while taking pics for instagram is not anabolic

ThinkProgress

And don't forget the flip-side of that coin...

Are your strength gains killing your cardio??