Does Aerobic Exercise Cause Muscle Wasting?

This is a claim that you hear too often, especially for bodybuilders, but also in some personal trainers. The extreme version is “Aerobics make you fat”, the reasoning is that it leads to loss of muscle, which lowers your metabolism so that you gain fat because you eat too much now for your slow metabolism.

These types of claims are based on some truth, as we shall see, but are greatly exaggerated. Your muscles are not gone, nothing to waste because you walk for half an hour per day.

There are some leading mechanisms by which aerobic exercise with muscle growth, actual or muscle loss may interfere. The first is that while lead aerobics and strength training to ensure that concurrent adjustments in the muscles. For example, steady state leads to aerobic endurance adaptations, such as the improvement of mitochondrial (aerobic energy factories) and aerobic enzymes in the muscle while strength training to hypertrophy, or growth may result in muscle fibers.

The bottom line is that both of these activities has been shown that muscle growth do more than half compared to just weight training [Docherty, 2001 cut, Gordon, 1967]. For those of us that strength training is done for the fitness, no big deal, it just means it will take longer to build muscle mass. But for bodybuilders, it interferes with experience in their specialty. So many bodybuilders will minimize aerobics or take action to reduce the intereference.

I think that is where the seeds of this “muscle” idea has been planted for the first time. But keep in mind that aerobic in these studies was shown that the rate of muscle growth, reducing the distance caused by muscle loss. Interestingly, the opposite effect seems to be no disturbances affect not add strength training with cardio improvement. Many of us who are into aerobic training is to supplement it with upper body strength work, and there is no problem with co-education in this case.

There is another way to intervene with cardio strength training can, and that can only by the time too much. I remember one time when I tried to lose weight, so I have about 90 minutes per day of cardio. I’ve tried to make a token amount of strength training, but had little time and was exhausted anyway. I had much more success if I cut in order to raise a reasonable hours per day and left more time.

There are a number of mechanisms that result from the excessive aerobics can, the actual muscle loss, but because of overtraining and / or poor nutrition. Too much aerobics can increase the production of catabolic hormones such as cortisol (often called “stress hormone”), and may later lead to the breakdown of muscle tissue.

But moderate amounts of aerobic is a relaxing activity, which leads to a significant drop in cortisol. Only large amounts of aerobic activity leads to elevated cortisol levels in the blood after the action is completed.

A study in depth with how much is needed aerobic found that cortisol increases did not occur when run for 40 or 80 minutes, but only occurred in runs of two hours [Tremblay, 2005]. Ironically, high volume weight training can cause the same effect [Stone, 1998], but I’ve never heard anyone be warned not to raise it, because it makes your muscles waste away!

The other mechanism is that if your body does not have enough blood sugar, it can provide by reducing protein to produce. If not enough protein from food is available, it will receive from muscle tissue [Berning, 1998]. Even this is only likely if you exercise excessively or malnourished.

The most obvious example of this is “against the wall” in the marathon or cycling, “fuck” on long trips. You can also irritable and ruling as the brain, which can only run on glucose is impaired, is not getting enough fuel.

I have these two experienced and they are no fun. I do not know if my body broke muscle for fuel, but it sure felt like my muscles had been broken down, or at least to beat. But both times I noticed this after about 3 hours of exercise, without in any fuel.

On the other hand, many people who are into aerobics, think of carbohydrates as fuel, bump up their consumption of bad carbohydrates like white flour products or sugary drinks or power bars “that are basically glorified candy bar. This can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle of poor diet justified by overtraining.

It is a way, people who can do a lot of heart, at the end of protein deficiency: endurance exercise increased the demand for protein. You’ve probably already heard that cardiovascular is fueled by a mix of carbohydrates and fat, depending on the intensity, but there is a small piece of protein in the mixture. Protein is also necessary to any tissue damage caused by the exercise of [Noakes, 2004 corrected].

Strength coaches are aware that they need more protein, but people often do not have the heart. Moreover, since many who try the heart, lose weight, they are probably sacrificing calories at the same time, if you can do so only by reducing the portion size to reduce protein intake. The typical recommendation for 0.25-0.45 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, but endurance athletes may require more than 0.55 to 0.65 grams per pound [Sharkey, 2001].

So not too much training and not underreat, and do not eat junk. Follow the procedure as easy to sense day / long day, do not do hours per day of cardio, and do not attempt more than about a pound a week lose weight. Be sure to do a balance of cardio and strength training, and the muscles are just fine.

Editor Tips

You may have heard of depression during the long winter months when daylight hours are lowest. While sunlight can be harmful, we all have a little sunshine in our lives. Sunshine causes the brain to produce serotonin, and serotonin has refuel a positive impact on our mood and energy.

Sinus irrigation Performing one or two hours before your massage can effectively reduce or eliminate sinus congestion so you can to enjoy your massage more. In addition to removing mucous and irritants that cause congestion from sinuses, is the salt in the salt solution is also effective in alleviating the swelling of the sinus membranes.

Go ahead admit. Great looking six pack abs are sexy, very sexy. You expect to see great abs for teenagers and twenty somethings, but put on the more than forty … yes! This is not a promise of “washboard” abs. Rather, suggestions on ways to achieve great looking abs – firm, rippled and perhaps most importantly, well toned abs – and a trim waist.

Advertisement