Too much cardio detrimental to muscle gain??

M

MadnNatsmom

Cathlete
Hi, Cathe -

I don't know if you answered this post, but I remember when you were taping the PS Series, you wrote that your personal trainer had you cut down on your cardio because too much cardio was hindering your ability to gain muscle?? Am I remembering this correctly?

Thank you for reading!
 
Hi,
I would also be interested in the answer to this question! Sometimes I think I am overdoing the cardio at the cost of muscle building.

Candice :)
 
I've also heard that too much stress hinders muscle growth - a good incentive to take it easy!
 
Hi, I would like to know the answer to this question also. I also do a lot of cardio. Thanks
Joanne
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Apr-11-02 AT 05:38AM (Est)[/font][p]I wonder what the recent thinking is on this. The article in the link is almost 2 years old.
I think your resting metabolic rate has alot to do with it. For me, if I did aerobics 6-7 days a week for 45-60 mins. I would be a stick man and have to quit my job in order to have enough time to eat enough to maintain any real body mass.
Would love to hear Cathe's take on this.
Trevor
 
It's based on principles that don't change very much nor very quickly. I think most of the people who post here are also very diet conscious and that is the key. When I come in from a run, I know I have a 30 minute window to optimize refueling my muscles and I choose a food that is high on the glycemic index (for instance, a banana) to replace glycogen and I eat a little protein to repair and rebuild my muscles. To attain a catabolic state in which the body canabalizes it's muscle supply, you have to work out and not eat properly. It's pretty rare in the average exerciser. Anyone who doesn't have an eating disorder should be able to do cardio up to 6 days a week without muscle loss. It's the Holy Trinity of Fitness: cardiovascular exercise, strength training and optimal diet.

Bobbi http://www.plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif Chick's Rule!
 
Bobbi -

Thanks for that link!

I do recall that when Cathe was taping her PS Series, she was teaching 2 or more classes per day which prompted her trainer to advise her to cut back on the cardio (not positive, though, since that was like 2 years ago).
 
Cathe's first few sentences in her '99 post state the exact opposite of what Venuto states.
 
I was neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Cathe's statement. I merely linked it. I personally believe that it is quite difficult to lose muscle through aerobic exercise if you eat properly. But I am not genetically inclined toward muscularity in the way Cathe is. Running has made wonderful changes for me, particularly when it comes to my scrawny legs. But we are all so different in how we respond. I favor cardiovascular training because it makes me feel so wonderful. Strength training I appreciate only when it's over! Body builders though, are a completely different breed and I know that they often stop cardiovascular training when they compete to avoid losing muscle mass. Since that's not a concern of mine and I love the nutritional aspects of training, I have never put my body into a catabolic state even when doing very high mileage. But as you pointed out, metabolisms vary and I know of anecdotal evidence of losing mucscle mass to aerobic exercise. It really comes down to finding out what our individual needs are.

Bobbi http://www.plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif Chick's Rule!
 
Hey Bobbi,
I know you were merely supplying the link. It just seems Cathe's opinion is different from Venuto.
Thanks for sharing the links by the way.
Do you run exclusively when not doing Cathe tapes or do you do other types of cardio? I like spinning, stairclimber, crosstrainers, and a little running on the treadmill. I try to mix it up alot. Outside, I love rollerblading and mountain biking. I used to race mountain bikes back when I was in college.
Thanks again for all of the info.
T. :)
 
Hi, Trevor,

I try to crosstrain to cut down on my risk of injury but right now it's running, strength training and a little yoga. My sister started running a few years ago and she's so gung ho about racing that we have done 5 in the last 6 weeks. I am tired!:) The Race for the Cure is Sunday. We then have 2 more races, the last May the 5th at which time my poor old feet are going into retirement for a few months! I live in Tucson and it's just too hot to race during the summer months. I am planning on trying a spinning class during the summer when we go to Michigan to see my mother. My sister works part time at a gym there. I have a 4 year old who is turning 5 in June and going to kindergarten in August! Those 2 and a half hours will be training time and I am definitely going to add some crosstraining to my repetoire! Once this racing ends, I am actually toying with the idea of doing about 6 weeks of heavy weight work so I can head off to Michigan and impress all my sisters with my muscles!

Bobbi http://www.plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif Chick's Rule!
 
Bobbi,

Check out Runner's World's cross-training guide. Nearly all of the training programs I see for running involve some cardio x-training. Not only to reduce injury risk, but to develop muscles, reflexes, etc that running doesn't develop. I wish cycling programs would leap into the 21st century!

A comment on the original thread. I have to reduce my cardio if I'm trying to increase muscle mass. It's one of the reasons I started to run. A 30 min run works, but 90 minutes of rolling hills on the bike means no results (for both). Obviously this is unscientific & nonprofessional. It's certainly not a lack of calories. And I sure don't have Trevor's metabolism. But for me I have to prioritize: if building muscle is my goal, I have to reduce the length & intensity of my cardio.

Debra
 
What always confuses me about the theory of reducing cardio to grow muscles, is when you look at professional athletes, like bike racers who have these incredible muscles and they get in hours on the bike. They say that they only weight train during off season so they are building muscles on the bike.

I do alot of long rides and don't find it is detrimental to muscles building. Running is a different story, I never seem to build from long runs, like when I'm marathon training. That is why triathlons work best for me, mixes it up.
 
I was thinking about Cathe and her wonderful physique. It stands to reason that someone that muscular whose metabolic rate is probably quite high would, I guess you might say, "overburn" calories with an increase in cardio. I have been training with moderate to heavy weights so I have pretty good tone going now but I am long-limbed and my limbs are slim to the point of skinny when I don't train and I just don't bulk. I have never really tried for mass but I think I might just play witt my strength training between May and August and see what I can do. I love these threads because initially I am very exited to give my opinion on a subject but I always find myself learning something or looking at things from a different point of view and even changing my point of view to some extent! :)

Bobbi http://www.plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif Chick's Rule!
 
The pros are amazing, aren't they? Initially when I started training for my racing season:), I was indeed crosstraining with Cathe's step workouts, modified somewhat to decrease impact but with the plyometric stuff to improve my speed. Once I began to race back to back weekends, my crosstraining suffered in the face of recovery days. There are some racers who do all these races and their times are very consistent. I have struggled this year. Part of that is my biomechanics. I probably should not run. My arches are sky high and absorb no impact. Thank God for great shoes and orthotics! In 1999, I raced once a month leading up the the marathon in December. I was pretty fast(for me). Not so this year. And it's killing my ego! Ultimately, I have to be thankful for what I can do and focus on being the best I can be without comparing myself to anyone (even to myself in 1999)! I plan to revamp my workouts and race really selectively (and fast) next year as a 40 year old!

Bobbi http://www.plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif Chick's Rule!
 
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