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| Will Cardio make me Lose Muscle? |
Will cardio make me lose muscle?
Not necessarily. Here's why?
As long as you are in a caloric surplus with a sufficient amount of protein (around 0.8 to 1g per pound of bodyweight) cardio may actually help you to build muscle in the long term.
As you increase your cardiovascular endurance you decrease your resting heart rate.
A lower resting heart rate means, you breathe slower and ultimately produce less cortisol, which is your body's stress hormone.
This also results in better sleep.
When you are producing less cortisol and in a more relaxed state, you will become more anabolic.
Anabolic, as opposed to catabolic (breaking down), is the building up aspect of metabolism. If you are in this state more often, you are going to be able to build muscle more efficiently.
So in the long term cardio could in fact help you build muscle.
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