Endurance Training – Good Or Bad For Building Muscle?

Have you ever wondered why Sprinter, like Usain Bolt, very muscular and on the other hand marathon runners mostly look very thin ? Is endurance training , like running or playing football, bad for building muscle? In this post you will find the answer to this question and much more information about endurance training in Combination with muscle training!

Muscle training and endurance training – do you know the difference?

The decisive difference between muscle training and endurance training is that although our muscles are trained in both sports, they are different muscle fibers !

Humans have 3 different muscle fiber types . Marathon runners mainly train the red muscle fibers (type 1), while strength training mainly trains the white muscle fibers (type 2).

It is important to know that everyone has all three of these muscle fibers! One more from the red, the other more from the white muscle fibers. This depends mainly on the genetics of each and every one of us.

Type 1 – red muscle fibers

The red muscle fibers, also slowly twitching muscle fibers, tire very slowly and allow us to walk or run long distances. These muscle fibers are mainly used and trained during endurance training.

It is crucial that they do not change their size! These muscle fibers get their energy mainly from the fat stores and their volume is very small.

Type 2 – white muscle fibers

White muscle fibers are very fast twitch muscle fibers and enable us to do muscle training with very heavy weights. In contrast to the red muscle fibers, the white muscle fibers tire very quickly. White muscle fibers get their energy mainly from the glycogen stores in the muscle.

Short and intense contractions, such as doing a set of deadlifts or sprinting are enough to train these muscle fibers. Their volume increases due to protein deposits. We call this process strength and muscle building!

TIP: You can find more exciting information on this topic in the following post: “ How does muscle building work – what happens in the muscle? “

Type 3 – intermediary type

This type of muscle fiber is also one of the fast-twitch muscle fibers, but is located between the white and red muscle fiber types.

By exercising this type of muscle fiber, it is believed that it will develop into Type 1 or Type 2. Too few scientific studies are available for this!

Building muscles in the legs – is it enough to play soccer or jog?

No! Playing soccer or jogging is endurance training and mainly trains the red muscle fibers (type 1) . Since the red muscle fibers can hardly increase their volume and they are responsible for more endurance, but not for more strength, soccer or jogging cannot replace hard leg training !

Does endurance training make sense directly after muscle training?

Immediately after the muscle training, endurance training, for example on the stepper or on the treadmill, doesn’t make sense personally. Why?

Anyone who still has the strength to run on the treadmill for 30-60 minutes after an intensive muscle training is basically doing something wrong with muscle training, because then it was it not hard and intense enough!

The second reason is that during an intense workout, the blood cortisol level increases over time. As we know after ” this article”, cortisol is a muscle-breaking hormone, which is why a training session should ideally never last longer than 60-80 minutes.

Does endurance training also have advantages for muscle building?

Definitely yes! Endurance training has many advantages for building muscle and for the entire body! Ideally, you should integrate 1-2 extra days of endurance training into your muscle building training plan .

5 advantages that endurance training offers you in terms of muscle building and health are:

1. Better regeneration

After intensive muscle training, the next day you usually have slight sore muscles . 30-45 minutes of easy jogging promotes blood circulation in the muscles, which means that they can be optimally supplied with nutrients and you can regenerate faster.

2. Good for the heart

Cardio training trains your heart muscle! It keeps you healthy and fit. A trained heart muscle can prevent high blood pressure, which can often be triggered by a weak heart muscle and a lot of built-up body muscles. 1 to 3 units a week of 30-45 minutes of easy endurance training in the lower pulse range is ideal for this!

TIP: Sports watches, fitness trackers or smartwatches are the perfect tool to always keep an eye on the ideal pulse range during endurance training!

3. More stamina

If you train your endurance, this will of course also help you with your muscle training. You can withstand heavy training sessions better and you are more fit .

4. Lose weight faster

With additional endurance training you can prevent the storage of fat in the fat deposits. (We recommend to athletes anastrozol preis) With endurance training you burn additional calories and keep your metabolism at full speed.

5. Lots of fun

Endurance training is fun and a good change from muscle training. Whether running on the treadmill, cycling on the ergometer or rowing on the rowing machine , endurance training offers the right sport for every type of person!

Conclusion – Continuous training good or bad for muscle building?

Endurance training keeps you fit and your heart healthy. You can also prevent one or the other fat pad or even let it melt faster. On an extra training day, endurance training, 1-2 times in addition to strength training, makes perfect sense!