Today at my gym i did 35 minutes of the bike. I averaged 7.11 mph and went 4.92 miles. Did I build any muscle ? I mean this should have since I used my legs to fight resistance. Is this an effective way of building muscle, getting cardio, and losing the most calories ? What are some leg workouts that are better ?
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Cardio building muscle ?
- Thread starter candleman
- Start date
Today at my gym i did 35 minutes of the bike. I averaged 7.11 mph and went 4.92 miles. Did I build any muscle ?
No one knows if you built muscle doing that or not.
I mean this should have since I used my legs to fight resistance.
Every moment of every day you're resisting the gravity of planet earth. Every time you move, you're resisting gravity, wind, and the tendency of objects to remain doing what they're doing unless acted upon. You see where I'm going with this? Maybe the resistance your legs fought today was sufficient to stimulate muscular hypertrophy. Maybe not. The fact that it was resistance doesn't give us an answer.
Is this an effective way of building muscle, getting cardio, and losing the most calories ?
For someone who's never trained before, anything will allow them to build muscle. Back when I was so skinny you could easily count all my ribs, doing chest stretches helped build my pecs. Starting out, anything will work. Is this an effective way to build muscle while achieving your other prerogatives? Not really.
What are some leg workouts that are better ?
Exercises such as squats, deadlifts and leg press, with progressive overload (always making sure that technique is good before moving up the weights) are ideal for building leg muscle mass. These exercises, being wholebody movements, also demand a lot of the cardiovascular system. One of the most intense things I've done (after spending a lot of time mastering technique so that I could do it safely) is 20-rep squats, which, on average, leaves me unable to walk in a straight line for about 15min afterwards. I wouldn't recommend going straight for that. A better option for you would be to do all your lower body work in sets of 3x8-12 with only about a minute's rest between sets, and then once you've finished all your lifting, get on the bike for half an hour.
Also, you need to divide up your goals. You're talking about building muscle and burning the most calories. To build muscle you want to be consuming more calories than you're using. To lose fat you want to be consuming less calories than you're using. You can't be in a calorie surplus and deficit at the same time. Train to build muscle, train to improve your cardiovascular system, and eat either to get bigger or to get smaller. Stick with one goal for at least 3 months, and then switch to the other goal.
No one knows if you built muscle doing that or not.
I mean this should have since I used my legs to fight resistance.
Every moment of every day you're resisting the gravity of planet earth. Every time you move, you're resisting gravity, wind, and the tendency of objects to remain doing what they're doing unless acted upon. You see where I'm going with this? Maybe the resistance your legs fought today was sufficient to stimulate muscular hypertrophy. Maybe not. The fact that it was resistance doesn't give us an answer.
Is this an effective way of building muscle, getting cardio, and losing the most calories ?
For someone who's never trained before, anything will allow them to build muscle. Back when I was so skinny you could easily count all my ribs, doing chest stretches helped build my pecs. Starting out, anything will work. Is this an effective way to build muscle while achieving your other prerogatives? Not really.
What are some leg workouts that are better ?
Exercises such as squats, deadlifts and leg press, with progressive overload (always making sure that technique is good before moving up the weights) are ideal for building leg muscle mass. These exercises, being wholebody movements, also demand a lot of the cardiovascular system. One of the most intense things I've done (after spending a lot of time mastering technique so that I could do it safely) is 20-rep squats, which, on average, leaves me unable to walk in a straight line for about 15min afterwards. I wouldn't recommend going straight for that. A better option for you would be to do all your lower body work in sets of 3x8-12 with only about a minute's rest between sets, and then once you've finished all your lifting, get on the bike for half an hour.
Also, you need to divide up your goals. You're talking about building muscle and burning the most calories. To build muscle you want to be consuming more calories than you're using. To lose fat you want to be consuming less calories than you're using. You can't be in a calorie surplus and deficit at the same time. Train to build muscle, train to improve your cardiovascular system, and eat either to get bigger or to get smaller. Stick with one goal for at least 3 months, and then switch to the other goal.
In general, cardio in and of itself will only modestly build muscle. While your muscular strength will increase somewhat, most cardio activities involve using muscles continuously for an extended period of time with only a light to moderate weight load; this -when done regularly- will result in tremendous endurance, but the overall strength/muscle-mass gains will be moderate at best.
I think cycling is sort of an exception; at least in terms of leg strength, cycling is an effective way to build muscle. But, as with everything, there's a trade-off if you focus too much on one activity. If you look at persons who focus exclusively on cardio -cycling, running, swimming, etc.- they tend to be very lean, but unless they also do strength training as well, their muscle-mass tends to be only slightly better than average.
I know some hardcore runners who are practically just skin and bones. This is because the body adjusts to whatever it's used for regularly; with hardcore runners, it eliminates anything it doesn't 'use', including muscle-mass.
I think cycling is sort of an exception; at least in terms of leg strength, cycling is an effective way to build muscle. But, as with everything, there's a trade-off if you focus too much on one activity. If you look at persons who focus exclusively on cardio -cycling, running, swimming, etc.- they tend to be very lean, but unless they also do strength training as well, their muscle-mass tends to be only slightly better than average.
I know some hardcore runners who are practically just skin and bones. This is because the body adjusts to whatever it's used for regularly; with hardcore runners, it eliminates anything it doesn't 'use', including muscle-mass.
You can make weight gaining weight training cardio as long as you are willing to compromise.
Ideal weight gaining is using maximum overload on the body in reps 10 down to 6 at minimum, there is some debate on rep ranges going up to 12 or even 15.
Cardio is keeping the heart rate elevated for a duration.
So if you do a weight training circuit with no rest total 10 rep sets at 90% 10 rep max were the muscle recovers while other body parts are working but the heart and lungs are always working hard you will gain mass and be doing cardio.
A typical circuit could be like that below, there are numerous variations.
Deadlift
Bench Press
Squats
Elbows to Knees
This will not build you up fast or improve your CV fitness better than other activities but it will improve both gradually.
Ideal weight gaining is using maximum overload on the body in reps 10 down to 6 at minimum, there is some debate on rep ranges going up to 12 or even 15.
Cardio is keeping the heart rate elevated for a duration.
So if you do a weight training circuit with no rest total 10 rep sets at 90% 10 rep max were the muscle recovers while other body parts are working but the heart and lungs are always working hard you will gain mass and be doing cardio.
A typical circuit could be like that below, there are numerous variations.
Deadlift
Bench Press
Squats
Elbows to Knees
This will not build you up fast or improve your CV fitness better than other activities but it will improve both gradually.
As others have indicated above, all around fitness requires 3 parts ...
(1) Clean diet that centers around lean proteins and complex, fibrous carbs
(2) Resistance training to build muscle and boost BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
(3) Cardio for the internal organs and other benefits
The notion that one can "burn away" fat thru extensive cardio is common but slightly misleading.
Consider for a moment, 4 hours of chopping wood burns about 800 calories
A small plate of 6 snack crackers contains 210 calories
People forget how energy dense food really is
210 calories ?
That may equate to 20 minutes of walking a treadmill at a 15 degree angle at about 3.3 mph
Hard to believe huh ?
Cardio is important, but it's use as a "fat burner" is slightly flawed.
Diet is indeed the most important thing
It is easier to cut 500 calories per day than it is to chop wood for 3 hours to "burn away" that same number of calories.
Also - have you ever seen "skinny fat people" ?
These are people who only do running or other cardio to control weight with no other form of exercise.
They often develop a drawn, stringy look that is almost unhealthy looking.
They often fail to develop or maintain lean muscle mass and thus their BMR drops ........ this creates a scenario where the people need to keep running longer and further to keep the weight off.
You may of course tone up a bit with cardio, but as the others told you -- Cardio is not really a "muscle building" kind of exercise.
Weight training and Cardio are like 2 different tools in a tool box
Each better for a different job or objective.
So in the end analysis .... you will have the best success reaching your goals with a smart combination of Lean Protein diet + Weight Resistance Training + 30-40 minutes of cardio.
Figure if you can do at least 2 days per week, you will be able to accomplish much.
Good Luck
Michael Spitzer
(1) Clean diet that centers around lean proteins and complex, fibrous carbs
(2) Resistance training to build muscle and boost BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
(3) Cardio for the internal organs and other benefits
The notion that one can "burn away" fat thru extensive cardio is common but slightly misleading.
Consider for a moment, 4 hours of chopping wood burns about 800 calories
A small plate of 6 snack crackers contains 210 calories
People forget how energy dense food really is
210 calories ?
That may equate to 20 minutes of walking a treadmill at a 15 degree angle at about 3.3 mph
Hard to believe huh ?
Cardio is important, but it's use as a "fat burner" is slightly flawed.
Diet is indeed the most important thing
It is easier to cut 500 calories per day than it is to chop wood for 3 hours to "burn away" that same number of calories.
Also - have you ever seen "skinny fat people" ?
These are people who only do running or other cardio to control weight with no other form of exercise.
They often develop a drawn, stringy look that is almost unhealthy looking.
They often fail to develop or maintain lean muscle mass and thus their BMR drops ........ this creates a scenario where the people need to keep running longer and further to keep the weight off.
You may of course tone up a bit with cardio, but as the others told you -- Cardio is not really a "muscle building" kind of exercise.
Weight training and Cardio are like 2 different tools in a tool box
Each better for a different job or objective.
So in the end analysis .... you will have the best success reaching your goals with a smart combination of Lean Protein diet + Weight Resistance Training + 30-40 minutes of cardio.
Figure if you can do at least 2 days per week, you will be able to accomplish much.
Good Luck
Michael Spitzer
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Fitness is usually categorized as great or low strength. Intense cardio exercise work out is further categorized as great or low effect.
Low- to moderate-impact exercises: Strolling, diving, stairway going up the, step sessions, rowing, and cross-country snowboarding. Nearly anyone in affordable wellness can take part in some low- to moderate-impact work out. Quick walking burns as many calorie consumption as running for the same distance and presents less risk for injury to muscle and cuboid tissue.
Low- to moderate-impact exercises: Strolling, diving, stairway going up the, step sessions, rowing, and cross-country snowboarding. Nearly anyone in affordable wellness can take part in some low- to moderate-impact work out. Quick walking burns as many calorie consumption as running for the same distance and presents less risk for injury to muscle and cuboid tissue.
Last edited by a moderator: