Movement

Centr Team

Will cardio kill my strength gains?

Our 6-week workout program Hybrid Strong brings strength and HIIT cardio workouts straight to your home or gym.

Does cardio really kill muscle gains?

The short answer is no, it doesn’t kill, wreck or eat away at muscle gains. One study found that short bursts of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) alongside resistance training had no negative impact on strength gains. And in some situations, the combination of cardio and strength training actually boosted muscle growth.

However, if you’re still worried about losing muscle mass, it’s important to point out that your body will use whatever fuel is available to it for exercise.

In the case of extreme over-training, you will likely give your body no choice but to use muscle (rather than fat stores) for fuel. Your body will only get to this stage if you are:

• Exercising every day on low calories

• Exercising at a high intensity for longer than 45 minutes at a time

• Exercising on an empty stomach

So this is where you need to lock down every aspect of your training routine – from your muscle-building nutrition to your recovery. As long as you are fueling your body with enough of the good stuff (high-quality protein, complex carbs, essential fats), cardio won’t hinder your muscle-building results.

What are the benefits of cardio training?

Rather than thinking about cardio as something that could ‘kill’ your strength gains, start thinking about it as a tool that could give you even more gains. In fact, this type of hybrid training – the combination of some form of cardio endurance exercise with strength training – has boomed in popularity in recent years.

Cardio training helps to:

• Build muscle endurance

• Improve your stamina

• Improve blood flow and circulation

• Speed up muscle recovery

• Increase fast-twitch muscle engagement

There’s a reason cardio is a key part of America’s (and most other nations’) physical activity guidelines. Regular cardio exercise lowers your risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure – which has huge flow-on benefits to your everyday life and future health.

If you’re building muscle, cardio conditioning can be a great addition to your recovery routine.

Which cardio is best for strength training?

Different types of cardio training have different benefits. Slow, steady cardio will burn big calories, which isn’t what you need when you’re trying to build muscle.

Strength-based exercises that activate your cardiovascular system and fast-twitch muscle fibers, like HIRT, plyometrics, boxing or sprint drills, are more likely to complement your muscle-building goals.

Of course, it’s not just the type of cardio training you do, but the frequency. If strength gains are your priority, experts recommend a ratio of two or three resistance training workouts to one cardio workout per week.

This is how we’ve designed Hybrid Strong to maximize your all-around gains, with 3 strength workouts and 1 cardio session each week during the program.

Is it better to do cardio before or after weightlifting?

Whether to do cardio or weight training first may sound like a nit-picky question, but the order actually makes a difference to your training and results.

If your goal is to maximize muscle growth:

• You should lift weights before doing cardio exercises

• You’ll have more energy for your strength session to lift heavier and with more intensity

• You’ll reduce the risk of injury through poor form and fatigue

On the flip side, if building up endurance is your priority, you should do cardio before switching to lifting weights.

If you want a mix of both but don’t have time to split your strength and cardio training across separate days, consider doing a cardio finisher at the end of your weights session. This could look like an added HIIT/HIRT round or a quick treadmill run.

Get the best of both worlds with high-intensity strength training plus cardio conditioning in Hybrid Strong.

Why a combination of cardio and strength training is best

Now we've established that muscle and cardio are not sworn enemies, it’s time to start thinking about these two training modalities as complementary, rather than opposing forces.

A healthy balance of the two is key to achieving great results – from your heart health to your athletic performance to living well for a long time. A recent study found that a combination of cardio and strength training led to a lower risk of mortality than cardio alone. And strength training can have huge benefits for running performance.

We’ll help you find the right balance with the ultimate hybrid training formula. Join Centr experts Luke Zocchi and Maricris Lapaix to burn fat, boost aerobic fitness and build lean muscle with 6 weeks of high-intensity strength training and cardio conditioning over 6 weeks with Hybrid Strong.

Want to bust more fitness myths?

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