Alot of guys at the gym who mostly weight train say that, they don't do cardio at the gym nor do they hike. rock climb or do any other outdoor activity because they say doing so would make them lose their muscle mass.  Is there any truth to this?

This is just a guess from my own experience, but for people who just are trying to stay in shape (not hardcore bodybuilders who are fighting to make marginal gains in muscle mass), I disagree with what your friends say.  If you are eating enough, I imagine that you can go out hiking or running or rock climbing and not lose any muscle mass.  The exception to this might be if you are making some big mega-excursion like the Pacific Crest trail, where weight training is impractical.  

Also, why not put your body's improvements to good use by playing outside?  For me the weight room is a means to an end; others' priorities may vary.

It's just basic caloric defecit versus caloric surplus.

I know from past experience, doing weightlifting without any cardio, I need at least 3500cal/day to gain weight.  Any cardio I do requires additional calories.  So if I decided to go hiking or running and burn off 500cal or something, that's another chicken breast and yam I need to eat.  At 3500cal/day, I'm already eating about every 2-3 hours from the time I get up in the morning until right before I go to bed.  So for me, squeezing those extra calories into my diet would be difficult, and I'd probably have trouble gaining, and possibly even lose some muscle mass.

But if you eat enough, or maybe just plan light cardio for the off-days, you should be ok.  IMO, if you want to be healthy, the cardio is a must, but it will make it more difficult to gain/maintain.

Quoted: Alot of guys at the gym who mostly weight train say

First, don't listen to guys at the gym.

they don't do cardio at the gym nor do they hike. rock climb or do any other outdoor activity because they say doing so would make them lose their muscle mass.

How much muscle mass do these guys have? How much fat do these guys have? Do you want to look like these guys do?

Using your muscles will not make you lose your muscle mass as long as you don't allow your body to go into a catabolic state. As long as you are eating enough, and often enough, to fuel you weight training PLUS the extra activity, you will be OK.

Is there any truth to this?

In order to build muscle you must eat more calories than you burn. The answer to this problem is to eat more. EAT BIG TO GET BIG. You body will not build muscle if it perceives any chance of a food shortage. Eat a lot, and eat often. Start with lots of milk, eggs, fruits and vegatables. If you get too fat, cut back a little. In the book "Starting Strength", Mark Rippetoe recommends a diet like this including drinking a gallon of milk a day. He also recommneds full squats 3 times a week. There is a chance this is a lot different then what you are doing. If you are asking ar15.com questions like this, I recommend you read Mark's book available at:
startingstrength.com

This book will put you on the right path for weight training, although it doesn't address cardio.

    You cannot overlook the importance of physical fitness in regards to weight training. If you just lift weights and never get any cardio of any sort, you will get fat. Will you gain muscle? Some, if you eat enough. Sumo wrestlers have a lot of muscle. All they do is eat and train.

You should Google GPP. Thats General Physical Preparedness. You will find lots of research that shows that physical fitness and regular excercise makes muscle growth from weight training more effective.

There are plenty of forums where the cardio vs no cardio topic is discussed. I would start with:
ironaddicts.com

Like angrydragon said, it's all about how much you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.  I can point you to an excellent weightlifting/bodybuilding/fitness site, but I don't know if I am allowed to post links to other forums.  The forum does not allow advertising or posting of sources for illegal drugs like steroids, but it does have a subforum where people who use them can discuss them.  IM me if you want the link.

I was just talking about this today. IMO, if you are dieting and running/riding a bike/walking like several hours a day, you are going to loose muscle mass at some point.
We were talking about the guy who got kicked off "biggest loser". I said I thought he looked good at a little over 200, but he is still trying to loose weight. He should be lifting and getting big.

I lift at the gym about 2.5 hours a day, the other day I noticed a chick on the tread mill, she got on as soon as I got there, and was on it when I left. That ain't building muscle honey! (she probably just wants to stay thin)

I don't know how rock climbing plays into the question though? IMO, it ain't cardio, but then I've never done it.

Once upon a time I had to go from 250 to 199 for a job. I did it super fast by eating 1 meal a day and running over 2 hours a day. I was wasted by the time I met my goal, I was weak as hell! I got down to 170 after that and felt even worse.
Later I got back up to 300 but was still weak. It took YEARS to start getting my stregth back. Now I'm building muscle faster by the day (I'm at 285). I go to the gym and beat myself half to death, then do it again the next day. I'm getting to where I'm allmost maxing out most of the machines.

depends on the type of hiking.. with or without weight, how much weight, what was the trail like.  IMO it is one of those exercizes that does both strenght and endurance.  atleast from my own personal experiences.

rock climbing is another that does both.  you build up your muscle endurance, but you also build your muscles.  I gained some muscle mass when i climbed 2x a week, but then again there are also different types of climbing.  You can make it more cardio style or more building style.  Ever try and climb completely inverted?  By no means am i a good climber, but it is one of the best workouts i have ever done as a whole body exercize.

I've seen a few rock climbers with great builds. You must eat to maintain/gain muscle, and it's all about eating the right things.

There's different philosophies about weight training, but one of my main goals in weight training is to be able to be very active, very athletic, strong, and a build that I like.

If you want the hardcore body builder look then you might want to stop most other activity...but when you get that big you lose a lot of flexibility and agility.

So bottom line, if you are eating enough you will NOT lose muscle mass.

I'm not sure about the mass thing, but if you rock climb you don't want to be big and non-flexable.  You want to very flexable and not have alot of weight, not saying more muscle doesn't help but it gets to a point where you want less weight.

I got more mass after rock climbing for a while.

ETA: some rock climbing vids

video.google.fr/videoplay?docid=-8851406861758021810&q=climbing

video.google.fr/videoplay?docid=-8075663420598412605

Quoted: Quoted: Like angrydragon said, it's all about how much you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.  I can point you to an excellent weightlifting/bodybuilding/fitness site, but I don't know if I am allowed to post links to other forums.  The forum does not allow advertising or posting of sources for illegal drugs like steroids, but it does have a subforum where people who use them can discuss them.  IM me if you want the link. You can post links to other sites. We're pains in the ass, but not about THAT!

www.anabolicminds.com/forum/

Great site, tons of information.  They tend to jump all over people who don't search before they post questions, though.

Very libertarian slant for the most part on that board.

I think this might fall into the picture vs practical fitness argument.

Whats the use of being in great shape if you can't do something like rock climbing or hiking. I personally think that there is a big difference between BEING in great shape vs looking like your in great shape.



 

I've met very few bulky rock climbers. But then again, most of the climbers I've met train to climb, not climb to train.

That being said, from what I've seen, I'd bet that the climbers are stronger pound for pound. Even pound of muscle for pound of muscle.

What they don't have is brute weight lifting strength. What they do have is the ability to do one handed pull ups all day long.

My twin nephews are competitive climbers, so while I don't do it, I am around people who do it constantly.

I think you're only going to lose muscle mass if you do too much climbing (without adequate rest) and not enough eating, as the others have mentioned.  It's probably not the greatest way to build it quickly, but it is resistance training.

An exception would be climbing and hiking at extremely high altitudes, such as trying to summit Everest or K2.  That's not something most people will ever need to worry about, but under those conditions, your body typically feeds on itself (both muscle and fat) preferentially over the food you eat at the time.  There was an excellent discussion of this phenomenon on a recent series on NGEO channel about summiting Everest.