Muscle Building Through Cardio

Matutu

Matutu

Matutu

Associate
Joined
21 Aug 2008
Posts
956
Hey Guys,

I the best way to build muscle etc is to do weight and ofcourse diet is 90% of the work etc.

However lately I have been speaking to a few people that are quite big guys (muscle wise) and they have never picked up a weight/dumbbell ever!. One of them spends their time cycling minimal 2 hours every other day and his calfs/thighs are huge, and another spends 1 hour everyday swimming (crawl lane swimming) and his shoulders and chest are very well defined with those 3 individual almost "tear look" muscles showing in his shoulders....

So I thought does a repetitive motion over time build muscle slowly? as long as you are putting in 100%, obviously not as quick as weights but still build?

Thanks
 
Yes, in a way, but it does take a long time. But it isn't the case that any old "repetitive motion" will do.

If your goal is to be big and cut, this isn't the best way to go.
 
It'll be years of that particular sport/activity. There are much quicker ways to gain muscle. Seeing as actually it's no where near the stimulus muscle requires for optimal growth solely performing one of these activities would be a very poor choice. Not to mention the neglect of other important body parts.

Ready GordyR's sticky then ask some more questions :)
 
I've got a flatmate who is literally 'hench'. We worked it out that he has several things in his favour.

1. Low body fat percentage
2. Natural athletic physique
3. good genetics

/jealous
 
When I swam competitively my shoulders and arms were huge but that was talking about 10+ years of training at least 1 hour per day. I've been getting back into it and my triceps in particular have grown a lot over the past few months.

But you're looking at a lot of sustained exercise and it can be a slow processes. Possibly the worst bit is you do end up being a bit lop-sided and can picking up injuries due to having massive arms/shoulders but a weak lower back.

The most effective way in my opinion is to get a good diet that's low processed carbs, high in protein with average calories and do full body workouts with high weights, low reps and more rest days.
 
Having done both I've noticed that with cardio the muscle only grows as big as it needs to be for the activity. I could probably have much bigger legs than I have now if I started weight training them, but they would be nowhere near as efficient as they are at the moment. I've also noticed the muscle is a lot more dense when it has been built with cardio work. Yes, it does also take a lot longer. With cardio you also only build the muscles you use, so if you cycle a lot you'll neglect the muscles you use for running, for example, and end up with ITB type injuries if you suddenly start running instead.
 
Yep, you will only grow as much as the exercise needs. to grow muscles you need to progressively overload them. once you stop overloading them they stop growing.
 
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