Does Cardio Hinder Muscular Strength Gains? Study Suggests No, Despite Popular Belief

For years, debate has raged between old-school and new-school muscle-building enthusiasts on how a proper bulking, or muscle-building, phase should be performed. The old-school approach often supports an "all-or-nothing" approach, taking things to the extreme, such as eating as much as humanly possible in order to maximize muscle gains, not worrying about the fat gains that occur as well. The theory here is that the only thing holding most people back from gaining the amount of muscle they desire is an inadequate intake of calories, so simply going on a "see food" diet will be the cure. From this perspective, the inevitable fat gains are a small price to pay for big muscles, and fat can simply be burned off during a cutting cycle later on down the road.

This mindset is in opposition to a newer school of thought, one that promotes a "lean-bulking" system, in which fat gains are kept to a minimum but significant muscle is added to one's frame. Obviously, this can be tricky business, or else the world would be filled with a lot more ripped individuals. Instead of a one-way ticket to Gorgeville, lean bulkers will keep an extremely watchful eye on their intake, making sure that a modest caloric surplus is reached. The theory is that this will provide the body enough fuel to build muscle but not so much that it will be stored as fat. Often, other nutritional strategies such as carbohydrate cycling are used as well.

But nutrition isn't the only area in which there is conflict between the all-out bulk and lean bulk theorists. Another significant, hotly debated topic is that of the use of cardiovascular exercise during the muscle-building phase. To the most hardcore muscle-seekers, cardio isn't a good thing - it burns valuable calories and doesn't stimulate the muscles in a way that will spur significant hypertrophy. Lean bulkers, though, will argue that cardio is necessary, not only for long term health, but to keep fat gains to a minimum, and to some extent, to spur appetite. Despite those justifications, though, the question of whether cardio significantly detracted from muscular gains has remained unanswered...until now.

A recent study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research aimed to put an end to this debate. In the study, a group of men were split into three groups - one control, one performing just resistance training, and a third performing cardio and resistance training simultaneously. These groups were followed for 16 weeks. Contrary to what a hardcore, all-or-nothing bulking enthusiast might believe, the cardio didn't hinder muscular gains - the researchers found no significant differences between the resistance training only and the resistance and cardio groups. Perhaps more surprising, though, is that the cardio and resistance training group experienced a bigger increase in lean mass than the resistance training only group (1).

And while there will always be debate raging between the hardcore and conservative bulking theorists, this study suggests that cardio will not impede strength or lean mass gains when one is consuming adequate calories. Of course, that tends to be where most fall short - not eating enough to support activity AND growth is why many believe that additional exercise outside of resistance training hinders gains. However, an intelligent nutrition and training plan will take care of that.

SOURCE:

1. Shaw, Brandon S1; Shaw, Ina2; Brown, Gregory A. Comparison of Resistance and Concurrent Resistance and Endurance Training Regimes in the Development of Strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2009; 23(9): 2507-2514