How to Build Muscle with Cardio

Cardio exercise is a type of exercise that raises your heart rate to a zone of 50-85% of the highest rate your heart can reach. The purpose of raising your heart rate to such a level is to bring more oxygen into the blood stream to oxidize the body, to burn away fat, and to build muscle.

Things You'll Need

  • Exercise Heart Monitor
  • Access to Exercise Equipment
  • Workout attire
  • 20 minutes, 3 days a week
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Instructions

    • 1

      Study cardiovascular exercise and learn techniques to help build muscle with cardio exercise. Cardio exercise is intended to keep the heart muscle in shape, but also works to provide additional oxygenation to body organs, burn fat, and build muscle. Cardio includes the movement of large muscles in the body, such as the legs, to produce repeated movements and increase heart rate.

    • 2

      Determine your ideal cardio heart rate. Begin by obtaining a rough estimate of your max heart rate. Ladies, take your age and subtract it from 226 to obtain your maximum heart rate; and gentlemen, subtract your age in years from 220. (If you're a 20-year-old female, your maximum heart rate is 206: 226-20=206.)

    • 3

      Multiply your maximum heart rate by .5 and you'll have your minimal target heart rate for cardio exercise, or the heart rate you must reach in order for your work out to be considered a cardio workout. (206x.5=103, for our example.)

    • 4

      Find your maximum target heart rate by multiplying you maximum heart rate by .85. (Continuing with our example: 206x.85=175. So for this example, the cardio exercise heart rate range for a 20-year-old female is between 103 and 175 beats per minute.)

    • 5

      Wear a heart monitor that is intended specifically for use during exercise in order to keep your heart in target cardio range. Focus on exercises that require movement of large muscles, such as those in the legs and arms. Try bicycling or sprinting, as well as swimming, and climbing stairs.

    • 6

      Jog at a faster pace and carry weights in the hands and pump your arms while jogging. Jogging alone is not considered a cardio exercise unless you are in your target range; jogging is typically considered a fat-burning exercise rather than a muscle building exercise, so jog in addition to other exercises.

    • 7

      Consume more protein. Protein is needed in order to build muscle, so eat lots of protein-rich foods and avoid unhealthy carbohydrates while continuing to enjoy healthy carbohydrates.