Is running bad for muscle growth?

I

irishguy

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I'm lifting M/W/F, running 3 miles on T/Th/Sa and resting on Sundays.

Is running going to hinder my muscle growth? I'm going to be increasing the running too, as I'm training for a 10k race.

How can I get bigger and be a good runner at the same time?
 
excessive cardio yes.

because cardio does cause muscle loss.

look at hardcore runners, they are often perceived as slim and slender.
 
Joey, I saw your argument about this a few weeks back. With all do respect, I'm going to have to disagree with you.

I don't think that running causes muscle loss. I think the main issue is having enough calories to compensate for the extra calorie loss. If you don't, then muscle mass will be broken down to fuel your body as they need to come from somewhere.

If you eat enough then your body will not need to break down the lean muscle, so both will be attainable.

Neil Laverty is a prime example of this and he does cardio like a machine and hes in great shape and size.

Think about it. Why do boxers, martial artists, rugby players, gymnasts, dancers, the list is endless of people who add some pounds of muscle and keep a high level of CV fitness.

Only doing weights is being lazy, IMO. Why would you want to LOOK healthy and not really BE healthy?

Just my 2 cents...
 
Long term cardio... meaning 30 minutes plus burns fat, but it also burns some muscle, this has been proven. Are there exceptions? Yes.

I'd say your best bet is to try HIIT if you want to burn fat and put on muscle since it has been shown to burn much more fat than long cardio sessions, take less time, and it doesn't negatively effect your muscle growth. If you want the scientific stuff involved type HIIT into the search engine.
 
I think merciless might be on to something. If you're not afraid of side aches, maybe you could consume cals during your cardio or something.
 
Merciless said:
Why would you want to LOOK healthy and not really BE healthy?
Click to expand...

Exactly. I want to be able to run a 10k in about 3/4 months. I would rather be fit and healthy with a bit less muscle, but I think I'll just add a few more calories to the diet to compensate.
 
Merciless said:
Joey, I saw your argument about this a few weeks back. With all do respect, I'm going to have to disagree with you.

I don't think that running causes muscle loss. I think the main issue is having enough calories to compensate for the extra calorie loss. If you don't, then muscle mass will be broken down to fuel your body as they need to come from somewhere.

If you eat enough then your body will not need to break down the lean muscle, so both will be attainable.

Neil Laverty is a prime example of this and he does cardio like a machine and hes in great shape and size.

Think about it. Why do boxers, martial artists, rugby players, gymnasts, dancers, the list is endless of people who add some pounds of muscle and keep a high level of CV fitness.

Only doing weights is being lazy, IMO. Why would you want to LOOK healthy and not really BE healthy?

Just my 2 cents...
Click to expand...

Agree, if cardio is done RIGHT and with propper nutrition it wont cause muscle loss. Though, most people dont know how to do this, and alot of cardio does burn alot of cals, so lots of cardio might not be a good idea if you are just trying to get bigger.

HIIT is a good way to do cardio, it keeps you OUT of the protein and muscle burning phase of cardio. Thing is, if you do long cardio sessiones you could start burning protein even if you have enough cals. so HIIT for life!
 
Now although muscle loss is preventable to some extent through your diet, muscle weakening isn't. If you put muscles in a hypoxic environment, they will grow more mitochondrea, and it will take up actin/myosin.


Malkore check your pms
 
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ahhhh Mreik. so in other words the more long duration cardio at a high state of intensity, the more mictochondria created to combat the hypoxic environment, and thus that lowers actin/myosin filiment numbers, resulting in less ability to contract the muscle...i.e. weakens the muscle?
 
malkore said:
ahhhh Mreik. so in other words the more long duration cardio at a high state of intensity, the more mictochondria created to combat the hypoxic environment, and thus that lowers actin/myosin filiment numbers, resulting in less ability to contract the muscle...i.e. weakens the muscle?
Click to expand...
Yup. I dunno the exact time/## ratio or if it's like that. I just know that consistently running will greatly slow strength gains in your legs. IMO plyo's at a cardio pace are great, they'll help your nervous system become more efficient and counter the muscle lost, so strength will stay the same, and speed possibly increase.
 
mreik said:
Yup. I dunno the exact time/## ratio or if it's like that. I just know that consistently running will greatly slow strength gains in your legs. IMO plyo's at a cardio pace are great, they'll help your nervous system become more efficient and counter the muscle lost, so strength will stay the same, and speed possibly increase.
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Clean jerks with very light weights is awsome cardio. Hell i know after my tripples im SHOT, and thats only 3 reps, but i use higher weight than you would if you went for a cardio workout :p
 
yeah, i dunno about the strenght thing though, i wouldnt do high reps of any oly moves to gain strenght. If you take a weight you "should" be able to preform 10 CJs with you will know what i mean :p
 
Just keep surplus of cardio if you are gonna be running that often. Remember to eat a BIG breakfast, and try to break down your lunch into 3 portions of small lunch, and a medium sized dinner.
 
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