Cardio exercises are known for controlling heart rate, improving cardiovascular health, and stimulating blood circulation. In addition, cardio is known for its highly effective fat-burning properties and accelerated weight loss. Therefore, if you want a toned physique with visible, attractive muscles like abs, cardio training is an essential first step in this muscle-building process.
Therefore, combining cardio with a healthy and scientific diet will help you build muscle effectively and quickly achieve a balanced and healthy physique.
Cardio training helps transport more oxygen to the muscles, stimulating protein synthesis, rebuilding new muscle tissue, and promoting better muscle growth.
Hidden muscles are often located beneath layers of fat; therefore, excessive fat accumulation hinders muscle development. Cardio training eliminates excess fat, revealing the underlying muscle mass. Some high-intensity cardio exercises require continuous body movement, putting pressure on the muscles to develop. Furthermore, cardio exercises coordinate the whole body, thus helping muscles develop evenly.
Which muscle groups are strengthened by cardio exercises?
Does cardio increase muscle mass? The answer is yes. More specifically, cardio exercises will help strengthen the following muscle groups:
Lower body muscles, including thighs and calves: Cardio exercises such as running, jumping, cycling, etc., require continuous leg movement. Muscles like the thighs and calves also have to work a lot, helping to increase muscle mass and tone muscles.
Upper body muscles, including back, shoulders, and biceps: Exercises such as badminton, basketball, and sexy dance are all cardio exercises. When performing these exercises, the upper body will have to work a lot, helping to increase muscle mass and reduce fat effectively.
However, remember that the primary effect of cardio exercises is fat loss. Therefore, the muscle-building effect will not be as pronounced in some muscle groups, especially the glutes and abdominal muscles. To build muscle better and develop all muscle groups comprehensively, you should combine cardio exercises with strength training exercises.
Cardio intensity helps build muscle effectively
Endurance training and aerobic exercise are equally effective for both men and women. Maintaining regular exercise promotes responses such as muscle protein response, amino acid distribution, increased anabolism, reduced inflammation, and reduced protein and DNA damage. To promote muscle growth, during training, you should maintain a cardio intensity with a minimum heart rate of 80%.
Some office workers and older adults tend to be less active and exercise less intensely. For these individuals, muscle mass decreases, and they often experience health problems such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. To improve cardiovascular health and overall well-being, enhance physical fitness, and increase muscle mass while reducing fat, regular exercise is essential.
Some notes on cardio exercises to avoid muscle loss:
While knowing whether cardio exercises can increase muscle mass, you should also note that improper cardio can lead to catabolism and muscle loss. Here are some ways to avoid muscle loss during cardio exercises:
Combine various exercises:
Cardio exercises are diverse, including walking, running, cycling, mountain climbing, aerobic dancing, soccer, badminton, basketball, table tennis, etc. To ensure balanced muscle development, you should combine different exercises but alternate between them. Each exercise should only be repeated 2-3 times per week. For example, running alone will only develop thigh and calf muscles, while upper body muscle groups will not be affected. Conversely, combining cardio with badminton will stimulate the development of other muscle groups such as the shoulders, back, and biceps. This will lead to a more balanced physique and muscle development. Furthermore, combining exercises will prevent boredom during training.
Doing cardio on an empty stomach stimulates the body to burn excess fat faster because the body needs to use energy from excess fat to meet training demands. In the long run, muscle mass will also be broken down to create energy for the body, leading to muscle loss. Therefore, to lose weight, maintain muscle mass, or increase muscle mass, you should eat a light snack 30-60 minutes before training. Your snack should be boiled eggs, protein bars, smoothies, oatmeal, etc., and you should only eat in moderation, avoiding overeating that causes bloating.
Variable training intensity is necessary
Each person’s body has the ability to adapt. Therefore, if you do cardio at a certain intensity, your muscles won’t receive enough stimulation to grow. In this case, your body will lose fat but won’t gain muscle.
Now that you know whether cardio helps build muscle, you can incorporate cardio exercises into your workout plan. However, regardless of the exercise you do, you should increase the speed and difficulty to stimulate muscle growth.
For running, you should alternate long-distance endurance running with sprints, increasing the duration depending on your fitness level.
For cycling, you should cycle faster and longer to increase muscle growth and fat burning.
If you’re lifting weights, you can try heavier weights and more advanced techniques.
In summary, this article has helped you understand whether cardio exercises help build muscle. It’s clear that cardio is an effective exercise to help you lose fat, build muscle, and tone your body. However, to achieve the best muscle-building results, you should focus on combining it with exercises that strengthen specific muscle groups.
