(07-24-2011, 03:47 PM)Swat Runs Train Wrote: Not at all, a solid diet with a caloric deficit of 400-500 will do far more for you than cardio ever will, unless of course you're going to do hours every day, which is still not as good as a proper diet, since doing hours of cardio will burn some muscle as well.
Dieting too much ends up in dieting problems with some people because they find it's easier than working out, and a sad shortcut to a worse alternative. That is how anorexic people start. You don't need to cut a diet, you just need to moderate your intake of food, and eat the proper things. More fruit, more vegetables, and a variety from the food group, with less meat preferably.
Cardio burns muscle? :S I don't know where you got that information from though... Cardio doesn't burn muscle, however you loose muscle when you get older after around 25 years of age if you don't work on your strength exercises. Cardio "leans" you out by toning the fat down around your muscles, it doesn't take away from your muscle.
Gaining muscle is by tearing muscle tissues and letting them recover, cardio won't have any reverse effect on that. It can kill muscle
gains but doesn't reduce your muscle. It only stops more of your gain in muscle because proteins are broken down.