Muscle Up with Cardio

Worried that doing cardio may cut into your ability to build lean muscle? Think again. A study from Canada suggests that doing cardio may actually help you build muscle. Researchers from the University of Calgary (Alberta) had subjects follow a six-week cardio program that consisted of jogging on a treadmill or elliptical machine three times per week at 60%-70% of their max heart rate for about 30 minutes.

They measured the subjects' myostatin levels--a protein that limits muscle growth--before and after the program. The scientists reported that the six weeks of cardio training decreased myostatin levels by 20%. Since lowering myostatin helps to increase muscle growth, it looks like doing cardio may actually help you build more muscle. Now stop sighing and get back on that StepMill.