Here are some recent status updates from Jamie Eason on Facebook that are very helpful.
If I keep my lean muscle mass greater than my bodyfat, I stay lean and do not require as much cardio. Ladies...BUILD MUSCLE!
And, YES, too much cardio will inhibit muscle growth. If you are eating a consistently clean diet, at regular interverals throughout the day, you want those calories to go toward supporting mucle growth when you weight train. How much do you do? Devote at least 4 weeks to weight training only and then start incorporating cardio a few times a week.
Simplify you guys:
- First 4 weeks - clean up your diet, aim for 5 to 6 days a week of weight training, lifting heavier (8 to 10 reps) *if beginner, use moderate weight *NO CARDIO
- Second 4 weeks - be consistent on food, continue weight training schedule but incoporate drop-sets & super-sets, add 3 or 4 days a week of 30 to 40 min cardio
- Final 4 weeks - Try a carb cycle or carb timing (around weight training only), higher reps (12 to 20 reps), incoporate active rests, plyos, sprints (every other day)
*Will be providing a detailed program very soon on Bodybuilding.com
I suggest no cardio for the first 4 wks of a program b/c it will allow you to devote all your energy toward building muscle. Adding cardio too soon will inhibit muscle growth.
It is too difficult to tell when you have allocated just enough calories toward weights & calories toward cardio, so as not to sacrifice muscle. Have faith!!! The later stages will even things out b/c the muscle you built will create tone & burn more calories than cardio alone.
Excessive cardio is NOT the answer! It's being consistent and totally devoted to clean eating! Adding weight training will then reshape and lift your body. Cardio is for heart health and for getting super lean, if that becomes your goal, but it is NOT the answer to a lasting transformation unless you plan to do cardio every single day for the rest of your life and who wants that??
A clean diet first, resistance training next, and cardio last!!
Why do we lift a different major muscle group each day? Because it allows us o devote all of our energy toward growing one particular muscle. Training multiple muscle groups expends more energy with less focus being given to increase mass. That method (training multiple muscle groups) comes later, once you're seeing hypertrophy (bigger muscles). Be patient!
I've said this before...you only burn calories WHILE doing cardio, but if you lift weights and manage to grow muscle, you will be burning calories ALL THE TIME!!
