Cardio really does get bashed heavily by the bodybuilding industry, and I am going to let you know does cardio burn muscle. Bodybuilders in their off season steer clear of cardio at all costs like it’s the black death.
[Does cardio burn muscle, they say there is no smoke without fire, so lets check this out]
Does Cardio Burn Muscle?
Before I give you a conclusive answer on does cardio burn muscle, we first need to examine a few things.
What Does Cardio Require of Your Body?
Cardio is based around repetitive body movements, which elevate your heart rate and keep it elevated for a period of time. Cardio isn’t limited to just running around the common. It can take place in many forms such as circuit training, pyramid set training, (funny that bodybuilders don’t realise their main training tool is cardio in nature), interval training aka HIIT workouts, and even sex.
When performing cardio, there is an order in which your energy systems are used. These are:
- Carbohydrates from your food as well as glycogen, which is stored in your muscles.
- Fats from food and your stored body fat.
- Protein, amino acids from muscle tissue.
So to avoid losing muscle, one would want to train up to a certain time before protein starts to be used as energy. This is where your body goes into a catabolic state since it has used the energy already assigned for the task from the first 2 and to sustain the energy output the body begins to feed off its own muscles to fuel itself.
Gold in 5000 meters, go Great Britain, but this is the kind of look to avoid
When Does This Happen?
It is generally accepted in the fitness industry that this tends to happen if you are performing cardio for more than one hour. I only perform all forms of cardio for about 45 minutes maximum anyway except if I am playing sport , but 45 minutes shouldn’t you in a catabolic state.
But What About Sports That are Longer Than One Hour?
Well yes, technically they would be entering this catabolic state, but there are ways to prolong yourself from entering into this mode. So if you were building muscle and also played a lot of sports I would suggest two things.
- Carb Loading- eat quite a big carbohydrate meal 2-3 hours before you start to ensure you are using as much carbohydrate to fuel the activity as possible.
- If you do your sport at least 3 times a week, avoid cardio after strength/muscle training, as the sport will be your form of cardio.
So can you lose muscle from running?
"Look at All the Muscle I Lose Playing Football", sacasm voice
Yes and no. From chronic cardio sessions like marathon running, most certainly, you only have to look at their bodies to see that. Then on the other hand look at Cristiano Ronaldo above. Also think of sprinters, basketball players etc. Do they look like they lack muscle?
What if I Only Care About Building Muscle? Should I not do cardio?
I would give you a big fat hell no, cardio improves your performance and also aids in your recovery from resistance training by transporting blood and oxygen to the muscles. It makes you more fit, which can benefit your lifts as to build mass you need to fatigue the muscle which includes lots of reps and sets with minimal rest and having good cardiovascular fitness will help this. Often I see people in the gym who cant perform what they are doing, not because their muscles give way but because they’re out of breath.
Does Cardio Burn Muscle Summary
You now know the answer to the question does cardio burn muscle? Yes it does, under certain conditions, but by eating sensibly and not training for over an hour regularly, you can prevent muscle mass loss. You also learnt that cardio can in fact help build muscle, so remember guys cardio is good for your health so incorporate it into your schedule but don’t over do it.
If you are really worried about does cardio burn muscle, consider taking BCAA’s.
Kevin from Home Gym Adviser February 11, 2012 at 1:24 am
If getting fit the fastest way possible is your immediate goal, then add the one-two punch of good nutrition and strength training exercises along with a cardio program. Both slow and steady, as well as high intensity cardio, will help you to feel and look younger, and drop those unwanted pounds too.
Sammy February 27, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Hi Miguel , awesome site
the thing I wanna talk about is regarding my obliques. the measurement around my hip bones attaching my obliques are just 30.5 inches and my waist is 29.5 inches , so the hips and waist ratio are quite similiar which is good becuase no one wants big hips and small waist right? Well even though it is small it still looks big on me! Giving me the illusion that it looks bigger than it would normally do. I know that I stilll have some fat to lose ( I am around 12 % bf even though I have small hips and waist which would be something like 29 waist and 30 hips when I have around 8 % bf ) Well back to the obliques , even though they are small in circular measurements they still look weird and they are even uneven in size! My left oblique is bigger than my right and I have never done any form of deadlift or squats in my entire life. This bugs me even more. Some people have told me that It is becuase 1= I am to skinny , hardly any muscle on my frame , 2= I still have some fat to lose ( skinny fat) and 3= I have way to small lats. I am currently doing visual impact for those things. There was another guy on Rustys facebook page telling me to do some bridging to fix this but I dont see the reason how, also it feels like it widens my hip bones by doing this but it may just be me. Well Miguel if your kind enough to help me on this situation you would seriusly do me a big favor and I am looking forward in the future on this site and whishes to the best of luck // Sam
mikemc007 February 27, 2012 at 4:48 pm
How tall are you? Because there is something called the adonis index, which basically suggests the perfect male body. With your height, I will be able to tell you what your waist should be. Alternatively you could look at my squidoo lens and work it out for youself. If you need further help after that, shoot me an email at michael mcintyre at somebodylied dot com with a picture and I will give you a good diagnosis. I had to write it like that to stop spammers.
link to squidoo lens http://www.squidoo.com/ideal-body-measurements-for-men-how-to-get-the-perfect-body-for-men
Sammy February 27, 2012 at 9:21 pm
I am 173 cm tall
can you tell me what my adonis index should be ?
mikemc007 February 27, 2012 at 9:40 pm
Okay this is just my opinion so take it for what it is worth. The perfect male body should have a waist which is 45% of your height. You are very close to this. Your height in inches is 68. So 0.45 x 68 equals 30.6″ which means you should add an inch to your waist. You want to add quality muscle in this region. SO you could do some 5×5 deadlifts, could also do some side bends and bicycles. Your shoulder circumference should be 1.61 times your waist ratio giving you 49.266″ shoulders. Your chest circumference should be about 10″ bigger than your waist. Your arms should equal your calfs and your neck circumference. When you look at yourself in the mirror you can decide what size looks best on you for that. I always advise people to burn fat before fully building muscle, so while you are doing phase 1 of VI, eat a little bit under maintenance as the program suggests if you have body fat to lose. Hope this helps somewhat. By the way, sign up to my newsletter, and you can get some great tips on how to get ripped. Also like my fan page and you will get my 30 day lose fat gain muscle program for free.
Sammy February 28, 2012 at 2:04 am
Thanks man , really appriciate it
One thing though , isn´t it impossible to gain muscle on a calorie deficit? since in my case I hardly even have any muscle , it would just look kinda weird if I were to diet down to a low bf %. But when you mean “like my fan page” is it on facebook or twitter or something else where ?
mikemc007 February 28, 2012 at 7:16 am
Check out this article by Rusty and John Barban, http://fitnessblackbook.com/muscle-building/nutrition-plays-a-small-role-in-building-muscle-mass-controversial-video/. Yeah my facebook fan page