Cardiovascular exercise is possibly one of the most feared words in the vocabulary of a bodybuilder. We will be happy to push ourselves to perform training routines until we are destroyed, but the idea of ​​doing cardio leaves many bodybuilders looking for shelter like cockroaches in an illuminated room. One reason is that most cardio is almost as fun as standing in front of a dryer and most importantly, and often heard: cardiovascular exercise can cause muscle loss. This has led many to suggest completely suppressing cardio from the arsenal of exercises for a bodybuilder. The latter for an ectomorphic bodybuilder in the off season, may be realistic and, in many cases, advisable. But in the case of people with slower metabolisms this may not be as feasible. So, how can we perform cardio correctly without decreasing our muscle gains?

The practice of combining strength training with loads and cardiovascular exercise is scientifically termed "concurrent training." While to increase muscle mass and strength, concurrent training has been shown to be superior to performing only resistance cardiovascular training, a significant disturbance in strength and optimal hypertrophy has been found in comparison to the use of strength training alone with loads . Several studies had shown that optimal gains in strength and muscle mass were obtained by strength training with loads only compared to the combination of strength training and cardiovascular resistance training.

However, a recent review of the scientific literature on concurrent training conducted by Dr. Jacob Wilson of the University of Tampa and several of his colleagues identified some interesting variables that may affect the way your cardiovascular training will influence your strength. , hypertrophy and responses of their body composition to cardiovascular resistance training. The first variable that was examined was the modality of cardiovascular training. That is, does the type of cardiovascular exercise actually constitute a different response in strength and hypertrophy? What you found may surprise you. The type of cardiovascular exercise performed makes a big difference in terms of proper development of strength and hypertrophy in response to load training. Walking or performing resistance runs cause significantly more decreases in the development of optimal hypertrophy compared to cycling or spinning.

This is also in accordance with a study that compared cycling to walking on a treadmill (a very common cardio practice in the bodybuilding community) and found that cycling was significantly better to achieve hypertrophy when combined with training with loads compared to walking on the inclined treadmill.

The researchers concluded that the differences observed here are probably due to the fact that pedaling on a bicycle requires greater hip flexion and the activation of multiple joint muscles that participate in exercises such as squats and press compared to resistance exercises. like running and walking, which are not movements similar to leg exercises that produce muscle hypertrophy. It should be noted that the sprint is a little different from the endurance race and is superior to creating muscle mass due to the hip flexion that is required during the same, so it is also more similar to exercises such as squats and press in front to jog.

In fact, the analysis concluded that the effects of cardio on strength and hypertrophy affect specific parts of the body. That is, the lower body cardio had no negative effects on the development of hypertrophy and strength in the upper parts of the body. In addition, it has been shown that rowers who added a high intensity resistance training (with paddles) to their protocol had similar gains in strength and hypertrophy compared to a group of non-rowers who followed the same training protocol with loads.

Therefore, in terms of the best types of cardiovascular exercises, it seems that one should use cardio equipment that more closely mimics the movements made during strength training with loads. In addition, while running long distances and walking results in a decrease in strength and hypertrophy, speed racing does not, most likely due to the fact that sprinting requires significant hip flexion and is more similar to multiarticular exercises focused on the lower train like the squat. The other important variables that the researchers examined were the intensity and duration of cardio work and how it affects strength and hypertrophy when combined with load training.

In essence, they showed that the longer the duration of cardio, the greater the deterioration in strength and hypertrophy. Interestingly, they found that short, high intensity cardiovascular bouts, such as repeated speed runs, did not in fact have a negative impact on the strength and development of hypertrophy. This is probably due to the increase in hip flexion as mentioned above and because high-intensity cardio or bicycle speed races cause your muscles to contract at high speeds, activating fast muscle fibers compared to cardio. 

Resistance that very possibly will not activate fast-twitch fibers in large muscle groups. Now we will see all the defenders of the brocile go out shouting to the four winds that the high intensity cardio causes the loss of muscle. Since these guys do not like real science, I'm going to make it easy to understand ... Look at the bottom image of an athletic race and see the legs of a sprinter and then take a look at the legs of a resistance runner or marathoners and tell me what type of cardiovascular exercise is best for optimizing muscle gains and fat loss.

What was even more interesting was that a new analysis of the literature on cardiovascular exercise of short duration and high intensity showed that not only improved strength and hypertrophy, but was also superior in fat loss.

I know that the "colleagues on duty" will continue to defend the low-intensity cardio to the maximum to maximize the percentage of calories burned from fat, so I will quote the researchers: "the low intensities, which are ideal for Burn fat during exercise, may not be ideal to maximize fat burning in the long term. Research indicates that the increase in metabolism after exercise increases exponentially with greater intensity. " This, while the most skeptical will be enslaved by walking their hard earned gains for hours on the treadmill, I will be doing sprints or high intensity cycling, thus building more muscle!