Big muscles even with cardio?

Many people who want to see their muscles increased run away of cardio workouts, afraid that this activity can reverse the gains. But, is this fear justified?

The belief that cardio exercises contribute to muscle catabolism, when occurs the destruction of muscle tissue, and not for their anabolic function, when there is new muscle tissue, essential for muscular hypertrophy, is the main reason why athletes avoid this activity.

However, recent studies have concluded that moderate cardio activity practice, combined with resistance training can even enhance muscle growth. Studies carried out on people who were doing weight training and moderate cardio activity, have shown that the muscles are subject to both types of training have increased more than those who performed only strength training.

Don’t overdo on cardio

Excessive cardio activity can negatively interfere with the increase in muscle mass and should be practiced moderately in case you want to gain muscle. Also the type of cardio chosen can be more or less harmful to this increase of muscle tissue. The key is to be able to successfully combine both practices in order to enhance the results of growth.

Combining cardio and strength training

The muscles adapt differently to aerobic activity and strength training. However, the order in which you practice both activities does not seem to be of great importance: studies carried out have shown that the increase in the size and strength of muscles do not depended on the order in which they were performed. What is important is not to mix the activities. Do a complete strength workout and only after a full aerobic training, or vice versa. The ideal is to wait between each: at least 6 hours.

Pedal instead of run

Within the cardio activities, running cause further damage to muscle tissue, so choose cycling instead of running. This seems to be one of the cardio activities that when combined with resistance training get the best results. Several studies have shown that muscle gains, coupled with strength training, are superior to those who pedal and lower for those who uses the running machines, or even lower for those who only do strength training. This happens because the muscle contractions that occur when we cycle are concentric, i.e. the muscles are subjected to movements of shortening that more resemble those of strength training and require more active units for its execution. Since the eccentric muscle contractions, characteristics of running, it requires a lower amount of active units, forcing the muscles to do stretching movements.