Can I make size gains if I do cardio?

[teirrah]

Happy New Year to everyone on the board.
I had delusions that I could do a novice bb comp in May, spoke with my trainer at the weekend who suggested that holding off another year to get more muscle would be a wiser course of action. I totally respect this and her commandments to lift heavy, eat properly, (lots of protein, clean food, at least 5 times per day, 6 or more is better) and rest.
But I would value your opinions on cardio. I actually like doing cardio. Rather, I like running on treadmills, it makes me feel strong in a different way from lifting weights, and it really helps me deal with stress. Also, there is a history of cardiovascular problems and high blood pressure in my family which I'm keen to avoid if I can through exercise.
Can I continue to run and still hope to make size gains?
Continue is a bit of a misnomer as it is a recent reintroduction after a hiatus of 3 months.
At the moment I run 30 or 40 minutes at 10kph, 3 times per week.
I am also changing my training split as lifting 5 or 6 days a week was becoming draining and lifts were going down.
The new split would be like this:

Sunday: legs
Monday: shoulders / abs/ cardio
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: Chest / bis / cardio
Thursday: Back / tris
Friday: cardio
Saturday: off

Is there any way to compensate for muscle loss from cardio, like eating more? Or is cardio simply incompatible with gaining muscle mass?
I would greatly appreciate any advice.
BTW, although I post infrequently I am an avid lurker on the women's board. In addition to it being a mine of information, it is also a fun read and is a part of my day that I really look forward to. So, my thanks to everyone involved.

 

[spatts]

When you say cardio, what exactly are you doing? You said running on a treadmill, but is it like 7 mph for 60 mins, or is it like sprint intervals?

I have found that alot of this can depend on conditioning. I don't seem to lose size doing cardio, but I tend to choose forms of cardio that are less catabolic, and I didn't do them on leg day or the day after. I like to sprint, or do hill intervals, sled drag, etc...either walking which isn't very catabolic or HIIT which is more anabolic like weightlifting. Personally, if I were you and looking to put on as much size as possible in the next year, I'd stick to walking 3 days a week. I know that's not as fun as running, but that's the best answer I can give you.

 

[BrickGirl]

personally, when I am trying to put on as much muscle in the shortest amount of time, I do zero cardio, I try not to even take the trash out

 

[JJFigure]

That's a great excuse for not taking out the trash, BrickGirl. I'm gonna have to use that one in the future.

 

[slinky]

Or how about not to do dishes or vacuum, too?

Like, "sorry honey, dishes require standing and that may cut into any gains I'm trying to make. Oh, and vacuum? Waaaaay to much cardio...."


Actually, rather than cardio, I perform HIIT. It allows me to make continual gains and holds pesky bodyfat at bay. I up my HIIT sessions a bit during precontest, too. Noooooo annoying 30-45 minute treadmill, stairmaster or stationary bikes for me anymore.

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

I've found that if I keep my cardio to no more than 3x a week for 30-45 mins each time I don't have any problems gaining muscle. HIIT is a good recomendation, but if you really enjoy longer, steadier cardio sessions why not just cut down to 1 or 2 of those instead of 3 and use HIIT the remainder of the time? I know what you mean about stress relief. I find that if I don't do cardio my temper flares up more, whereas weight lifting helps my mood and my stress. The kind of cardio you like can be good for the head chemicals.

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

Also, I was just thinking, one thing to keep in mind is that your body works differently from everyone else's - all anyone can tell you is how it works with them, you may be totally different.

Another thing to keep in mind is the ECA and NYC are supposed to be anti-catabolic, which is one reason why many people use it during cutting. Maybe if you used one of those before a long cardio session you could help spare your muscle?

 

[spatts]

How are ECA and NYC anti-catabolic?

 

[JJFigure]

I've been researching that very subject, and ephedrine has not been decisively proven to be anti-catabolic. On the other hand, clenbuterol is supposed to be anti-catabolic:

Clenbuterol, above all, has a strong anti-catabolic effect, which means it decreases the rate at which protein is reduced in the muscle cell, consequently causing an enlargement of muscle cells. For this reason, numerous athletes use Clenbuterol after steroid treatment to balance the resulting catabolic phase and thus obtain maximum strength and muscle mass.

from website: http://www.clenbuterol.com/sports.htm

And here's a website with a scientific study using rats (not humans) showing the anabolic effects of clenbuterol:
http://www.biomed2.man.ac.uk/tomlinson/rajab am j physiol 2000.pdf