Does cardio kill your gains?
What the research found, how to do it, and every source the episode cites.
The verdict
Keep your cardio.
- When
- you plan your training week
- Then
- book 2–3 cardio sessions
§ 01 · The protocol
§ 02 · Transcript
- The question
Does cardio kill your gains?
- How it works
Lifting flips a growth switch in your muscle. It tells the muscle to build. Cardio flips a stamina switch instead. In rats and in lab-grown cells, that switch turned the growth switch down. That's where the fear comes from.
- The research
But in people, across forty-three studies, adults who added cardio built just as much muscle as those who only lifted. Their strength grew just as much, too.
- The protocol
Here's how to fit it in. Aim for two or three cardio sessions a week, about thirty minutes each. Keep them a few hours away from lifting. Tired legs lift less. If you do both together, lift first, while your legs are fresh.
- The verdict
So no, cardio won't kill your gains. Make it a habit, and track it with Anvilus.
§ 03 · In the sources' words
“concurrent aerobic and strength training does not interfere with the development of maximal strength and muscle hypertrophy”
“Muscle hypertrophy: 15 studies … SMD −0.01 (95% CI −0.16 to 0.18; p = 0.919). Maximal strength: 37 studies … SMD −0.06 (95% CI −0.20 to 0.09; p = 0.446)”
“possible inhibition of mechanistic target of rapamycin signalling through activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)”
“Endurance training can lead to acute fatigue and accumulated fatigue over time (over-reaching)”
“Mean frequency: 2.9 sessions/week (untrained), 2.8 (moderately trained), 2.6 (trained). Mean duration: 37 min/session (untrained), 31 (moderately trained), 29 (trained)”
“Same-session training (≤20 min between sessions) showed an interference effect, SMD −0.31 … Sessions separated by at least 3 h did not show a significant effect”
§ 04 · Sources
- Schumann M, Feuerbacher JF, Sünkeler M, Freitag N, Rønnestad BR, Doma K, Lundberg TR. Compatibility of concurrent aerobic and strength training for skeletal muscle size and function: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med 2022;52(3):601–612 (43 studies, 1090 healthy adults, untrained or active; no funding)
- Petré H, Hemmingsson E, Rosdahl H, Psilander N. Development of maximal dynamic strength during concurrent resistance and endurance training in untrained, moderately trained, and trained individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med 2021;51(5):991–1010 (27 studies, 750 adults; funded by the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences)
- Gao Z, Yu J. Effects of concurrent training sequence on VO2max and lower limb strength performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Physiol 2023;14:1072679 (19 RCTs, 482 adults; Chinese state research funding)
- Lundberg TR, Feuerbacher JF, Sünkeler M, Schumann M. The effects of concurrent aerobic and strength training on muscle fiber hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med 2022;52(10):2391–2403 (15 studies; no funding)
- Wilson JM et al. Concurrent training: a meta-analysis examining interference of aerobic and resistance exercises. J Strength Cond Res 2012;26(8):2293–2307 (21 studies; read as abstract only, contrary evidence)
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