Cardio And Muscle Loss: Is Cardio Bad For Muscle Building?
Guest Author: Rando Meresmaa
A misconception that just does not go away is that you will lose muscle, if you do cardio training. So many people are worried about losing the muscle that they worked so hard to get, that they avoid cardio. Is it really possible to lose large amount of muscle whilst doing cardio?
Most people try to bulk up as much as possible, eating as much food as they can. And often people gain a lot of fat along the way because they avoid cardio workouts. But when people are happy with their muscle weight and try to lose fat then so many people lose muscle as well as fat. And it is not because of intense cardio but mainly because of the strict dieting. And I really do not know many people who consistantly measure their fat percentage. But knowing how much fat you have is essential, otherwise you have no idea if you are losing fat or muscle.
Cardio is not the main cause of muscle loss. You can still maintain your muscles, even if you do 45-minute intensive cardio workouts daily. The main reasons are inadequate caloric intake, inadequate protein or dieting without including a weight training program.
If you want to build muscle then people don´t want to gain much fat. And if people want to lose fat then they don´t want to lose muscle. It is very tricky to do them right. Not eating enough food or skipping meals are much more important factors than doing enough cardio.
Including adequate meal frequency, protein, carbohydrates and total calories to your daily diet is very important. If you are worried about losing muscle then track your lean body mass with skinfold testing and adjust your cardio and nutrition accordingly. You can make the right decisions according to your feedback.
A misconception that just does not go away is that you will lose muscle, if you do cardio training. So many people are worried about losing the muscle that they worked so hard to get, that they avoid cardio. Is it really possible to lose large amount of muscle whilst doing cardio?
Most people try to bulk up as much as possible, eating as much food as they can. And often people gain a lot of fat along the way because they avoid cardio workouts. But when people are happy with their muscle weight and try to lose fat then so many people lose muscle as well as fat. And it is not because of intense cardio but mainly because of the strict dieting. And I really do not know many people who consistantly measure their fat percentage. But knowing how much fat you have is essential, otherwise you have no idea if you are losing fat or muscle.
Cardio is not the main cause of muscle loss. You can still maintain your muscles, even if you do 45-minute intensive cardio workouts daily. The main reasons are inadequate caloric intake, inadequate protein or dieting without including a weight training program.
If you want to build muscle then people don´t want to gain much fat. And if people want to lose fat then they don´t want to lose muscle. It is very tricky to do them right. Not eating enough food or skipping meals are much more important factors than doing enough cardio.
Including adequate meal frequency, protein, carbohydrates and total calories to your daily diet is very important. If you are worried about losing muscle then track your lean body mass with skinfold testing and adjust your cardio and nutrition accordingly. You can make the right decisions according to your feedback.
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