DOES CARDIO AFTER LIFTING KILL GAINS? NOT ACCORDING TO STUDY

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DOES CARDIO AFTER LIFTING KILL GAINS SUMMARY?

• Does cardio after lifting kill gains is a question that many bodybuilders ask.
• Researchers have also found that cardio/aerobic exercise can increase muscle capillary growth, resulting in greater nutrients, satellite cells, and blood flow to the muscle
• Subjects that did cardio before resistance exercise had an increase in Type I fibers and increased satellite cells compared to the group that just did resistance exercise.

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DOES CARDIO MAKE YOU LOSE MUSCLE?

Bodybuilders have traditionally recommended that cardio is counterproductive for muscle growth. Several lines of research have suggested that cardio does not negatively affect muscle growth when used in moderation. Researchers have also found that cardio/aerobic exercise can increase muscle capillary growth, resulting in greater nutrients, satellite cells, and blood flow to the muscle. A new study also has found that cardio combined with eccentric exercise can increase the number of ribosomes in muscle. What the hell are ribosomes?

DOES CARDIO AFTER LIFTING KILL GAINS: WHAT ARE RIBOSOMES?

Ribosomes play a key role in protein translation and may support muscle fiber adaptations to exercise. Greater ribosome content expressed following resistance exercise has been correlated with muscle growth. Following an acute bout of resistance exercise, ribosome content increases to support protein synthesis and muscle contractions.(1, 2)  Increased ribosome content likely precede muscle protein synthesis, which is stimulated following aerobic and resistance exercise.(3, 4) Previous research has shown that ribosome content is increased following resistance exercise. Still, no research has been conducted on combining aerobic exercise with eccentric contractions and its effect on ribosome, satellite cell content, and muscle growth.

DOES CARDIO AFTER LIFTING KILL GAINS STUDY

Participants underwent 6 weeks of single-legged aerobic conditioning on a randomized leg, followed by a single bout of intense eccentric exercise. The other leg was a control group, which only performed eccentric exercises. The eccentric protocol consisted of 300 isokinetic contractions of the quadriceps muscles. Muscle biopsies were taken pre-, 24, and 48 hours after eccentric exercise.

At the end of the study, the group that performed the six weeks of aerobic exercise had a greater increase in ribosome content and satellite cell activity in Type I fibers.(5)

Brown A, Thomas ACQ, Hatt AA, McGlory C, Phillips SM, Kumbhare D, Parise G, Joanisse S. Aerobic conditioning augments the satellite cell and ribosome response to acute eccentric contractions in young men and women. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2022 Oct 24. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00418.2022. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36280394.

DOES CARDIO AFTER LIFTING KILL GAINS RESULTS

The group that did not perform aerobic exercise had increases in satellite cell activity in type II fibers. Type II fibers have the greatest potential for muscle growth. In sum, the use of aerobic exercise is only going to enhance the ribosome and satellite cell activity in type I fibers.

The same research group recently found that aerobic exercise increased capillarization in muscle, which enhanced satellite cell activity; however, this new study found that this occurred only in the type I fibers.(6) The subjects that performed six weeks of aerobic exercise before eccentric exercise experienced an increase in aerobic capacity and skeletal muscle capillarization, which was associated with an augmented type-I satellite cell content, further supporting the notion that training status and specifically capillary content can impact satellite cell function.

The researchers suggested that the greater satellite cell activity and ribosome in type I fibers following aerobic exercise allowed for greater muscle repair and adaptation to eccentric exercise damaging effects. This study is interesting because although there was no difference in type II fibers, the aerobic exercise group had greater increases in ribosome and satellite cell activity in type I fibers.

Greater increases in type I fiber will make a muscle look bigger despite type II fibers having a greater potential for muscle growth. The study also suggests greater muscle recovery when aerobic exercise is incorporated into a resistance exercise routine.

 

REFERENCES

1.         Ross R, Gray CM, Gill JM. Effects of an Injected Placebo on Endurance Running Performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2015;47(8):1672-81.

2.         McGlory C, Devries MC, Phillips SM. Skeletal muscle and resistance exercise training; the role of protein synthesis in recovery and remodeling. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2017;122(3):541-8.

3.         Di Donato DM, West DW, Churchward-Venne TA, Breen L, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Influence of aerobic exercise intensity on myofibrillar and mitochondrial protein synthesis in young men during early and late postexercise recovery. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2014;306(9):E1025-32.

4.         Phillips SM, Tipton KD, Aarsland A, Wolf SE, Wolfe RR. Mixed muscle protein synthesis and breakdown after resistance exercise in humans. Am J Physiol. 1997;273(1 Pt 1):E99-107.

5.         Brown A, Thomas ACQ, Hatt AA, McGlory C, Phillips SM, Kumbhare D, et al. Aerobic conditioning augments the satellite cell and ribosome response to acute eccentric contractions in young men and women. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2022.

6.         Nederveen JP, Joanisse S, Snijders T, Thomas ACQ, Kumbhare D, Parise G. The influence of capillarization on satellite cell pool expansion and activation following exercise-induced muscle damage in healthy young men. J Physiol. 2018;596(6):1063-78.

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