When you begin your fitness journey, many of you will come across the great divide “Cardio vs Strength Training”! The anti-cardio squad claims that cardio is not beneficial because it leads to muscle loss. Time to find out the truth!
It is often believed that cardio leads to a lot of muscle loss, which is not true. When performed right, it can be a great way of increasing calorie expenditure and increase fat loss. But there are a few circumstances where cardio can attenuate muscle and strength gains.
Combining cardio and weight training sessions
A meta-analysis showed 31% impairment in muscle growth and 18% in strength gain by combining cardio and weight training(1). Another research showed significant reduction in training performance when the participants performed a 20-min cardio session prior to weight training(2). So when to do your cardio session?
It’s best to perform your cardio and weight training sessions separately. Research shows the difference between the two sessions should be at least 6 hours(3). If you are combining both of them then it’s desirable to do cardio after weight training.
Doing a lot of high intensity cardio
High impact cardio like running or sprinting involves great utilization of lower body muscles and requires more recovery time. If sufficient recovery time is not given, it will negatively impact training performance, especially during leg workouts.
Include more cardio from low-moderate intensity exercises like walking, jogging, cycling, etc; and if you enjoy doing high impact cardio then you can mindfully keep a few sessions of high intensity cardio while minimizing their interference with your lower body training.
Doing too much cardio
While it’s true that cardio doesn’t lead to muscle loss if we are eating nutrition food – sufficient calories and protein, too much cardio can significantly increase muscle loss.
According to a meta analysis, the frequent and longer the training session, the harder it will be to gain muscle and strength(4). Three cardio sessions of 20-30 min each per week should be enough if the goal is gaining muscle and strength.
References
1. Wilson, J. M., Marin, P. J., Rhea, M. R., Wilson, S. M., Loenneke, J. P., & Anderson, J. C. (2012). Concurrent training: a meta-analysis examining interference of aerobic and resistance exercises. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26(8), 2293-2307.
2. Ratamess, N. A., Kang, J., Porfido, T. M., Ismaili, C. P., Selamie, S. N., Williams, B. D., … & Faigenbaum, A. D. (2016). Acute resistance exercise performance is negatively impacted by prior aerobic endurance exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 30(10), 2667-2681.
3. Robineau, J., Babault, N., Piscione, J., Lacome, M., & Bigard, A. X. (2016). Specific training effects of concurrent aerobic and strength exercises depend on recovery duration. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 30(3), 672-683.
4. Wilson, J. M., Marin, P. J., Rhea, M. R., Wilson, S. M., Loenneke, J. P., & Anderson, J. C. (2012). Concurrent training: a meta-analysis examining interference of aerobic and resistance exercises. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26(8), 2293-2307.
Author: Akshita Arora, Advanced Coach at FITTR and INFS Faculty
