Cut back on the cardio if your goal is to bulk up

Judging by the analytics, it seems that majority of the readers of That's Fit are women who are most interested in learning about healthy ways to lose weight. That said, the data also shows that there is a small contingent of male readers who are looking to learn ways to do just the opposite: gain weight -- specifically, muscle mass.

Take it from a hard-gainer, packing on muscle is no easy task. Some people (mostly those who are seemingly gifted with the genes of Adonis) can lift weights for a month or two and then voila!: muscles begin popping up everywhere. For the rest of us mere mortals, however, muscle-building can be a long, arduous process. Part of the reason why has to do with how effectively we utilize our time spent in the gym.

Perhaps one of the best examples of this can be found in the warm-up session performed before a weightlifting workout. Banging out thirty minutes of moderate-to-high-intensity cardio, though very effective at improving cardiovascular function and burning calories, can potentially curtail your efforts at building muscle.


If getting jacked is your goal, you should reserve as much strength and energy for your weightlifting workout as you can. Spending 30 minutes on the treadmill before a resistance training workout will start to deplete your muscles of glycogen, nitrogen and other vital elements needed for muscle strength, according to Muscle & Body magazine. You only need to increase your body temperature by about one degree to "warm-up" your muscles, and this generally occurs within five to ten minutes.

This same general concept also applies to cardio of all kind. If your goal is to beef up, one of the last things you want to do burn too many calories. When you lift weights, muscles are torn and subsequently rebuild. This process of tearing and rebuilding is what ultimately leads to muscle hypertrophy (growth). What is needed to ensure this process occurs, in addition helping to sustain new muscle? That's right, calories.