Calories vs Muscles Growth Qustion.
Discussion
As I've now lost most of my fat and I'm now trying to build muscle I got to wondering about wether the calories I lose doing cardio are being wasted. I know that you need an element of CV training to keep the veins and heart strong to supply the muscles but when your trying to build do you lessen the CV?
Or is it purely the protien that is required for muscle growth?
ETA sorry about the missing "e".
Or is it purely the protien that is required for muscle growth?
ETA sorry about the missing "e".
Edited by essexplumber on Friday 11th January 20:34
Interesting question and I think you'll get 10 different answers from 10 different people.
In the end I think if you are consuming enough calories and resting enough then you should still grow.
In my very simple world after reading lots of studies and different approaches from different people, I believe for maximum muscle growth you need enough calories/protein and aim for the maximum rest periods when not lifting so as not to take anything away from the recovery window.
Personally these days, I'd be quite happy to sacrifice some growth potential to do some CV given the health benefits.
I've tried different approaches and have created some threads a year or so back on my experiments. The problem with maximizing growth by dropping CV is that if you gain weight from the excess calories need to grow you can;
- Take in less calories - Thereby potentially slowing growth
- Do CV
- Or get fatter whilst getting strong (see my thread!)
If you choose to get fatter then you've got to spend more time in a calorie deficit to lose the fat which would take longer than if you grew a bit slower but did CV to keep the fat levels down and on top of that you are probably going to get weaker in a calorie deficit and most likely lose some of the muscle.
I follow Dogcrapp and he believes in eating huge amount of food, training very often and using CV to keep the weight under control which makes a lot of sense too me.
In the end I think if you are consuming enough calories and resting enough then you should still grow.
In my very simple world after reading lots of studies and different approaches from different people, I believe for maximum muscle growth you need enough calories/protein and aim for the maximum rest periods when not lifting so as not to take anything away from the recovery window.
Personally these days, I'd be quite happy to sacrifice some growth potential to do some CV given the health benefits.
I've tried different approaches and have created some threads a year or so back on my experiments. The problem with maximizing growth by dropping CV is that if you gain weight from the excess calories need to grow you can;
- Take in less calories - Thereby potentially slowing growth
- Do CV
- Or get fatter whilst getting strong (see my thread!)
If you choose to get fatter then you've got to spend more time in a calorie deficit to lose the fat which would take longer than if you grew a bit slower but did CV to keep the fat levels down and on top of that you are probably going to get weaker in a calorie deficit and most likely lose some of the muscle.
I follow Dogcrapp and he believes in eating huge amount of food, training very often and using CV to keep the weight under control which makes a lot of sense too me.
Edited by Ordinary_Chap on Friday 11th January 23:44
Could swap your cardio out for high intensity finishers at the end of your strength workouts. Will have the desired effect on your cardiovascular system while being less calorifically draining than an hour or two of jogging/spinning.
Do something around 5 minutes long, be it tabata (20 on, 10 off sprint cardio) or a barbell/dumbell/bodyweight/kettlebell complex of some without any rest (10 bw deadlifts, 10 pressups, 10 burpees, repeat) to finish yourself off at the end of a session.
Do something around 5 minutes long, be it tabata (20 on, 10 off sprint cardio) or a barbell/dumbell/bodyweight/kettlebell complex of some without any rest (10 bw deadlifts, 10 pressups, 10 burpees, repeat) to finish yourself off at the end of a session.
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