One of the most difficult tasks in building lean muscle, is figuring out the right amount of cardio to add to your training.  The amount of cardio depends on the goals of the individual.  If the individual goal is to bulk up, then cardio should be limited. However, if the individual goal is to get lean, then cardio should be limited as well.  I know this may sound confusing, I will do my best to make sense of it all.   It is a well known fact about the benefits of cardio.  Cardio increases metabolism, burns fat, lowers blood pressure and help reduce weight.  The downside is that if you only do cardio, you will lose muscle mass as well.  You can reach your desired weight goal; however, you will not truly have a toned body. This is why when building lean muscle, you have to make sure you don’t go overboard with doing cardio.  You will lose and muscle mass gains by doing too much cardio.  A delicate balance of both resistance training and cardio is required.  A few years ago,  Men’s Fitness magazine published an informative article helped unlock the mystery of figuring out the proper amount of cardio to do.