Does Cardio Kill Gains?

Research and Script

Evidence:
Aerobic exercise (cardiovascular exercise) does not burn muscle in it of itself. The misnomer
that it does comes from excessive cardio, which actually does burn muscle. After around 75
minutes of cardio, fatty acids begin to be metabolized for energy. Unfortunately, amino acids are
metabolized as well. This results in the consumption of muscle tissues.
Other factors:
Being in a caloric deficit can also cause the consumption of amino acids.
Why you should do Cardio:
• Cardio increases metabolic protein synthesis because of improved mitochondrial
respiratory capacity. (ATP into ADP
• Reduces risk of dementia
• Improves memory and thinking ability
• Reduces risk of Alzheimer's disease
• Maintains joint range of motion
• Promotes muscle hypertrophy
• Improves circulation
• Improves blood sugar
• Improves erectile function
• Staying active combats depression
• Improves sleep and promotes REM sleep
This is because running and other cardiovascular excercises promote the growth of new brain
cells and increases the production of brain-derived proteins.

Solution:
If you are truly afraid of losing muscle, biking seems to provide the same benefit as running but
with less risk of losing strength.

Script
Hi, C-sauce Camilo here. If you’ve been in the gym-osphere
long enough I’m sure you’ve heard that cardio makes you lose
muscle. So today, I’m here to see if there’s any truth behind it.
So first let’s cover a bit on what cardio actually is. Cardio, or
aerobic exercise is any rhythmic activity that raises your heart
rate into a state of burning calories and fat.
The belief that cardio ‘burns’ muscle is only true in the
case of extensive and prolonged endurance training where the
body begins metabolizing anything it can for fuel (around the
60–70 minute mark.) as it starts to run out of its readily available
energy stores. Cardio has been proven to prevent and help fight
against dementia and Alzheimers, meaning it doesn’t just help
you burn calories now, but your brain in the LONG RUN as
well.
On the topic of mental benefits, cardio also helps your
memory and cognition, so the next time you do a test you’re not
sitting there calculating how many questions you can get wrong
without failing. It’s not a complete solution to the studying you
skipped because you were too busy, and I quote “making Zyzz
proud” to worry about school even though Zyzz was an
academic weapon on top of his legendary online persona.
On the more tangible and physical side of things, since
cardio requires you to move, and moving typically requires the
contraction of muscles, aerobic exercise causes muscular
hypertrophy, creating more gains. Cardio will also strengthen
your tendons and ligaments. Which might save you from you
know what: (Montage of tendon snaps, maybe include opera
music- that stuff is fire).
Cardio is great for your joints! And helps fight osteoporosis
and manage arthritis discomfort and maintain the affected area’s
range of motion.
Doing cardio increases the oxygen supply to your whole body,
allowing for more cellular exchange. This makes it so that your
muscles can work harder and over time, with enough regular
exposure your muscles would adapt to the increased workload,
making regular activity seem easier. Just like let me think...
HYPERTROPHY! This affect however, is not limited to just
contractile tissue, other muscles such as your stomach, pancreas
and liver also benefit from the increase of oxygen in the system,
leading to better digestion, blood sugar regulation and reducing
the risk of developing onset type two diabetes.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that cardio helps your lungs out a
ton, decreasing the frequency of how often you have to breathe
since it makes your bloodstream and muscles more efficient at
transporting, and consuming oxygen. Not only that, but it
reduces your chances of having asthma or shortness of breath.
Finally, cardio also enhances both your mood and immune
system making you happier and healthier.
So now that we know the benefits of aerobic exercise, how can
we implement it and what are our options? Well for you my
friend, I’ve composed a tier list of aerobic exercises. (Cue tier
list)
Tier list segment will include me ranking each exercise and why
I put it there due to the pros and cons it may or may not have.
So now you know why and how you should do cardio, it’s time
for you to get on out there and start implementing some of what
you learned here today. Don’t be afraid to come back and ask
questions or do your own research on this too! See you next
time, this is ____ signing of