Most of the fitness aspirants think that doing cardio will impact their muscle growth & will impede their fitness progress. However, this is not completely true. It depends upon what kind of cardio workout/exercises you include in your schedule. Some exercises are not for weight lifters & those looking to build serious muscle mass. Running is not for them since it increases eccentric movement which may also result in injury. Running is one of the highest calorie burning workouts so balancing all the macro nutrients can be tough. Ideally, body builders should replace running with treadmill walk/run since treadmill run is done in controlled environment & shall not result in injury.
Fitness freaks with muscle/mass building objective have lot of alternative options to running such as :
Cycling: Cycling promotes aerobic fitness & build your lower body at the same till. Cycling, whether stationary or on road, is low intense activity with fewer chances of injury. It is a great exercise for building strong leg & increasing endurance of lower body.
Swimming: It is considered as full stack/comprehensive & an explosive cardio workout when you yo go for swimming laps. It takes the majority of gravity load off your body but still you work hard to stay afloat. Most bodybuilders have low fat percentage which leads to less natural buoyancy.
There is no earmarked threshold which cross can make your muscles vanish. However, some recommended guidelines include limiting cardio to 30 minutes. Sticking to 30 minutes will help you avoid burning too many calories & keeping focus on quality workout. To make the most of your exercise, blend HIIT with resistance training as it will help you build muscles & improve cardiovascular fitness.
For lean gain & even for maintenance, strike a balance between cardio & weight training. You can do cardio 2 days per week. These days can be when you are not lifting up &/or doing small muscle groups. Alternatively, you can have high intense workout consisting of 10 to 15 minutes cardio & 45 to 50 minutes of weight training.
To help you regain the energy/rebuild your calories post cardio workouts, consume lean proteins such as chicken & fish. In case you are not willing to lay your hands to cook something, the following are good alternatives for post cardio workouts:
- Nuts
- Avocados
- Oatmeals.
- Pumpkin seeds
You can consume these foods on rest days as well, so that you are not inclined to consume junk & oily stuff.
