Coupling Cardio With Muscle Building

About Your Cardio And Muscle Building

Cardio training is a form of aerobic exercise, and it entails any activity that uses large muscle groups in an unbroken, rhythmic manner for sustained periods of time. Frequent cardio training helps avert an assortment of illnesses including heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity. Something you should know is that  the goals of cardio for muscle building differs from the goals for fat loss.

Cardiovascular exercise should be kept to minimum as overuse may inhibit muscle gains by burning too much calories needed for muscle building. However, it should not be taken out of the program completely as it burns excess fat, increases recovery between weight lifting workouts, increases appetite and keeps you healthy.

In addition, it improves the cardiovascular system and thus the quality of the weight training workout (better stamina).  

Muscle building programs should include four weekly sessions of 30 minutes of moderate intensity cardio.

However, for people who have trouble gaining weight, especially those with high metabolism rate, 2 cardio sessions per week will suffice. It can be done before/after strength training or on non-weight training days. Doing in on off days is usually a better option as it serves as an active recovery activity and burns some calories on those days.

This will not inhibit size or strength gains in the least but may actually enhance them. You should vary your activities and intensities as much as possible. A few good options include swimming (whole body workout) and bicycling to limit the amount of stress or pounding on the joints. Work hard during these cardio sessions. Always try to get better and perform better every cardio session.

Your performance should improve due to the increased amount of carbs and calories you’ll be taking in during muscle building cycles.