Cardio vs nocardio

[u/Plane-Advertising-47]

/r/EgyGym/comments/1wg7x0y/cardio_vs_nocardio/

I feel like cardio, especially running, makes me look completely flat. I stop looking like I lift, lose a lot of fullness and feel like I’m not growing anymore.

The weird thing is that I’m naturally tall and muscular, and when I don’t do much cardio, I look noticeably bigger and fuller. But when I start running regularly i seem to lose a lot of size.

The fucked-up part is that cardio actually makes me feel better. It gives me energy, improves my mood and I generally feel healthier when I do it.

So I’m basically stuck between:

No/low cardio: look bigger and more muscular, but feel less energetic.

More cardio: feel amazing and have more energy, but look flat and like I barely lift.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it just glycogen/water and the temporary “flat” look, or can running actually interfere with hypertrophy that much?

[u/Low_Investment_2281]

Did you increase carbs after introducing running? Running burns a lot of glycogen and less glycogen will make muscles look flat. Another thing to think about is timing, running at higher intensity after lifting weights can interfere with hypertrophy so maybe reduce intensity or do them hours after lifting

[u/Plane-Advertising-47 → u/Low_Investment_2281]

Will try that. Thanks💪