Cardio that doesn't hinder recovery

**gza** · 05-01-2005, 12:38 AM

One of the challenges in building and maintaining a body with large amounts of muscle and little fat is trying to burn calories with activity (cardio) without interfering with the recovery and rebuilding of our muscles following weight training.

It's well known that eccentric muscle contraction causes more microtrauma to the myofibrils and results in superior gains in strength and size. Most of us are cognizant of this and therefore emphasize the eccentric phase in our workouts.

However, eccentric contractions don't necessarily burn more calories than concentric contractions at the moment of activity (although there is evidence that muscle microtrauma results in an elevated resting metabolic rate for hours or even days afterward).

This brings me to cardio. Running involves a concentric and eccentric component, while biking, the stairmaster, and the elliptical are purely concentric. So it would seem that, if the purpose of your cardio workout is to burn calories, burning them doing something other than running would spare your recovering muscles some unneccessary damage from eccentric contractions.

Any thoughts?

**Machher** · 05-01-2005, 11:32 AM

the point of many versions of cardio is the recovery period (afterburn as some describe it) the number of calories burned in an exercise is quite small vs that burned in a day. Adding the afterburn effects of cardio that requires recovery only enhances the calorie burning process that we are striving for.

**CowPimp** · 05-01-2005, 02:36 PM

Although there is an eccentric portion of jogging, the tension is not great enough to cause microtrauma.

**KarlW** · 05-01-2005, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Although there is an eccentric portion of jogging, the tension is not great enough to cause microtrauma.

That's what I would have thought.

**musclepump** · 05-01-2005, 03:06 PM

Mmm... microtrauma

**gza** · 05-01-2005, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Although there is an eccentric portion of jogging, the tension is not great enough to cause microtrauma.

Have you seen those electron micrographs of leg muscle before and after a marathon? The normal microanatomy is all messed up, with the formerly neat and distinct striations transformed into a blur.

It should also be noted that the gradient on which the running takes place affects the balance between concentric and eccentric contractions. An incline emphasizes concentric contraction, while running downhill involves more eccentric contraction.

**CowPimp** · 05-01-2005, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by gza

Have you seen those electron micrographs of leg muscle before and after a marathon? The normal microanatomy is all messed up, with the formerly neat and distinct striations transformed into a blur.

Interesting, I had no idea. However, we hardly run marathons every time we go jogging. Furthermore, there is no way to tell whether or not this is purely the result of the eccentric portion of the motion, or if similar results could be seen when performing the same amount of work on an elliptical, stationary bike, or other similar apparatus.

It should also be noted that the gradient on which the running takes place affects the balance between concentric and eccentric contractions. An incline emphasizes concentric contraction, while running downhill involves more eccentric contraction.

Actually, Dale Mabry posted an interested article about this a while back. You should check it out. It noted additional benefits of downhill jogging.

**ponyboy** · 05-01-2005, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by gza

Have you seen those electron micrographs of leg muscle before and after a marathon? The normal microanatomy is all messed up, with the formerly neat and distinct striations transformed into a blur.

It should also be noted that the gradient on which the running takes place affects the balance between concentric and eccentric contractions. An incline emphasizes concentric contraction, while running downhill involves more eccentric contraction.

After running 30km I have plenty of microtrauma. I couldn't walk for two days the first time I did that. I agree over short-medium distances it likely doesn't do much, but it definitely does something.

I'd also love to see the article on the benefits of downhill jogging. Everything I've read tells runners that it is actually worse for the joints than running uphill because of the constant deceleration that is required.

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