Does cardio cancel out your lifting?

Somewhere along the way, a lot of us picked up the idea that cardio “eats your gains.” So you either skip it and feel guilty, or you do it and feel like you just undid your lifting. Neither is fun.

Let’s clear this up.

What the research found

A 2022 meta-analysis pulled together 43 studies comparing people who did strength training alone with people who did strength training plus cardio. The result: no difference in muscle growth and no difference in maximal strength. [1]

Translation: for most of us, the muscle and strength you’re building are safe. Doing cardio is not going to erase your lifting.

The one place it matters

The one thing that may take a small hit is explosive strength (think jumping and sprinting), especially when cardio and lifting happen in the same session. If you’re training for sprinting or jumping, that’s worth planning around. If you’re training to feel strong and capable in your actual life, it’s a small detail, and lifting first in the session takes care of most of it anyway.

Why we do both

The U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes a week of moderate activity and muscle-strengthening work on at least two days a week. [2] Not one or the other. Both.

So in WITHIN, we lift first, then move. Your Move blocks, walks, Pilates, dancing around the kitchen: it all counts toward those 150 minutes. Moderate means you can talk but not sing.

You don’t have to pick a team. Lift, move, and stop worrying that one is canceling out the other.

Sources

1. Schumann M, Feuerbacher JF, Sünkeler M, et al. Compatibility of concurrent aerobic and strength training for skeletal muscle size and function: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. 2022;52(3):601–612. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01587-7
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. 2018.