Do you people do cardio when bulking up?

L

LittleBigHorn

New Member
Personally I harbor an intense hate towards pretty much any type of cardio. HIIT, although dynamic and quickly done, feels like self torture at its worst. Lower intensity cardio on the other hand is beyond boring, though it is more tolerable. "Fun" forms of cardio (if they can be counted into that category)such as recreational basketball are OK, but I'll be damned if I ever touch my elliptical machine with a ten foot pole when I'm not cutting up.
I'm not a physically lazy person by any means: I love lifting weights and pushing myself to the limit in that way, and I NEVER miss one single workout unless I'm sick (which doesn't happen that often). I just can't bother with the old treadmill unless I absolutely have to. I suppose I'd do more recreational cardio if the climate wasn't so restrictive for the better part of the year, though.

Anyone else feel this way about cardio? If not, then do you make a habit of doing it even when on a bulking cycle?
 
Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't... Last summer I was doing 1 hour walks in the morning during bulking. But now, since I have less time, I only do weights. Bryan does suggest cardio during bulking to reduce fat gain as you may already be aware. Have you tried doing cardio with a friend or perhaps bringing some music? I can't say that share your loathing of cardio, but I certainly can relate to the fact that it's not always fun!
 
Nope, not even when cutting. I just try to be more active in my daily life to burn some extra calories. Some extra housework, chores etc.
 
Yeah, I always listen to music when I do cardio. I simply don't have the motivation to hit the hamster wheel unless I'm aiming for fat loss, though. I figure it isn't that useful during a bulking phase, anyway, since it will do nothing but eat up a portion of the calories your body would otherwise use to fuel growth. After all, the primarily goal when bulking is to create a state of growth via a calorie surplus. I simply eat a little above maintenance and skip on the cardio.

I'd consider myself more of a mesomorph with a little endomorph thrown in there than anything resembling an ectomorph, so doing additional cardio would probably be of use to me even when bulking up. In spite of that, I avoid it as best I can. :D What little fat I gain I tend to shred quite easily up to a certain point (around 12-13% BF, when further fat loss becomes very difficult), so even if I gain a little more adipose tissue than I would if I'd do cardio, I can't be bothered. Even though I'm very motivated and I spend a big portion of my day counting calories, preparing meals and all that in addition to hitting the weights, I still tend to stick to the philosophy that the bodybuilding lifestyle should be something I enjoy doing. Cardio is about as fun as tap dancing on a flaming barbecue grill, so I'll pass on it if I can get away with it.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LittleBigHorn @ Feb. 04 2005,6:27)]I figure it isn't that useful during a bulking phase, anyway, since it will do nothing but eat up a portion of the calories your body would otherwise use to fuel growth.
Click to expand...
not really.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (BoSox @ Feb. 04 2005,11:43)]not really.
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Care to elaborate on that?
Last time I checked, the fat burning effects of cardio only kick in once your body has depleted its glycogen stores, so if you do low to moderate intensity cardio other than first thing in the morning or after a workout, you'll only work up a sweat (unless you do ridiculously long sessions) and maybe condition your heart and respitory system a little. Oh yeah, and burn some calories.
On the other hand, if you do it first thing in the morning or immediately after a workout, you'll lose fat, but you'll also lose muscle, which defeats the entire purpose of bulking up.
Or is there some unknown factor that I'm missing here? :confused:
 
Just ignore bosox.. I don't know why, but he always butts in with simplistic answers here and there, which aren't in the least bit helpful, and sometimes borderline on being flames (although not in this case thankfully), I'd rather prefer it if he stopped replying if he can only contradict people without backing things up with reasons.

I'd say your diet will govern whether you should do cardio when you bulk up or not.. If you're putting on fat, then you can do with a little HIIT extra at the end of your exercise, it might even help you better with intake of proteins after the exercise.

S.
 
I always do cardio, even during SD. I will do it with less intensity when I am bulking up such as "incline walking" on a treadmill. I am lucky to have the luxury of an exercise room at my work where I can exercise on my lunch break. (I eat all day long).
mdz
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]On the other hand, if you do it first thing in the morning or immediately after a workout, you'll lose fat, but you'll also lose muscle, which defeats the entire purpose of bulking up. Or is there some unknown factor that I'm missing here?
Click to expand...
I am in my cutting phase. Eating below maintainance 12 * BW.
I have been doing morning cardio on an empty stomach for a few weeks now. I can feel like my fat is decreasing( just by the look of it(ab fat)), but my weight is constant( does not make sense..muscle gain maybe?), and my strenght is the same/increasing. All this on a reduced calorie diet.
I feel that this whole morning cardio muscle loss thing is blown out of propotion, and that if you eat properly & workout during the day you will not lose too much muscle. My way of gauging muscle loss is strenght( size is kinda hard as I attribute any size loss to fat loss), and I have not lost strength on a reduced calories diet, and so my guess is you can put on muscle on a bulking diet( a big jump eh).
Just a single persons non-scientific observation. I may be completely wrong :)
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (someshw @ Feb. 06 2005,4:36)]
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I am in my cutting phase. Eating below maintainance 12 * BW.
I have been doing morning cardio on an empty stomach for a few weeks now. I can feel like my fat is decreasing( just by the look of it(ab fat)), but my weight is constant( does not make sense..muscle gain maybe?), and my strenght is the same/increasing. All this on a reduced calorie diet.
I feel that this whole morning cardio muscle loss thing is blown out of propotion, and that if you eat properly & workout during the day you will not lose too much muscle. My way of gauging muscle loss is strenght( size is kinda hard as I attribute any size loss to fat loss), and I have not lost strength on a reduced calories diet, and so my guess is you can put on muscle on a bulking diet( a big jump eh).
Just a single persons non-scientific observation. I may be completely wrong :)It sounds like you're doing pretty good on your diet, if you notice visible slimming up, yet your weight hasn't plummeted. I experienced that during my last cutting up phase: my weight didn't decrease significantly, but I could clearly see in the mirror that I was making great progress (up to a certain point, anyway, which was around 12% bf).
I guess it is useless to worry too much about muscle loss when doing cardio, since any amount you may have lost will be regained pretty quickly once you start bulking up again thanks to muscle memory- at least that's what I've heard (ohhhh no, do I hear another blunt and less than helpful "not really" coming my way?
tounge.gif
)...
 
flaming? I don't think so. Cardio has a lot of advantages during bulking, from stimulating glycogen supercompensation, to recovery, to appetite stimulation, nutrient partitioning etc etc etc.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LittleBigHorn @ Feb. 06 2005,12:20)]Last time I checked, the fat burning effects of cardio only kick in once your body has depleted its glycogen stores, so if you do low to moderate intensity cardio other than first thing in the morning or after a workout, you'll only work up a sweat (unless you do ridiculously long sessions) and maybe condition your heart and respitory system a little. Oh yeah, and burn some calories.
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??

where did you check? 1980's weider magazines.

the old concept that you have to burn carbs for XX time period before you oxidise fat was stupid when bbing mags first put it out.
 
Okay, it seems I have been misled all along.
I'm sure there is a very detailed and scientific explanation for why I am wrong, but considering that my comprehension is at a layman's level, I would greatly appreciate a simplistic explanation as to why this age old "truth" regarding fat loss is incorrect.
worship.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LittleBigHorn @ Feb. 06 2005,5:04)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (someshw @ Feb. 06 2005,4:36)]
Click to expand...
I am in my cutting phase. Eating below maintainance 12 * BW.
I have been doing morning cardio on an empty stomach for a few weeks now. I can feel like my fat is decreasing( just by the look of it(ab fat)), but my weight is constant( does not make sense..muscle gain maybe?), and my strenght is the same/increasing. All this on a reduced calorie diet.
I feel that this whole morning cardio muscle loss thing is blown out of propotion, and that if you eat properly & workout during the day you will not lose too much muscle. My way of gauging muscle loss is strenght( size is kinda hard as I attribute any size loss to fat loss), and I have not lost strength on a reduced calories diet, and so my guess is you can put on muscle on a bulking diet( a big jump eh).
Just a single persons non-scientific observation. I may be completely wrong :)It sounds like you're doing pretty good on your diet, if you notice visible slimming up, yet your weight hasn't plummeted. I experienced that during my last cutting up phase: my weight didn't decrease significantly, but I could clearly see in the mirror that I was making great progress (up to a certain point, anyway, which was around 12% bf).
I guess it is useless to worry too much about muscle loss when doing cardio, since any amount you may have lost will be regained pretty quickly once you start bulking up again thanks to muscle memory- at least that's what I've heard (ohhhh no, do I hear another blunt and less than helpful "not really" coming my way?  
tounge.gif
)...
Click to expand...
Muscle loss from cardio is greatly exaggerated. Adequate protein and kcal's with a decent resistance training program will allow you to retain LBM very well. Why are you doing cardio on an empty stomach are you sub 10% BF?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LittleBigHorn @ Feb. 08 2005,2:00)]Okay, it seems I have been misled all along.
I'm sure there is a very detailed and scientific explanation for why I am wrong, but considering that my comprehension is at a layman's level, I would greatly appreciate a simplistic explanation as to why this age old "truth" regarding fat loss is incorrect.
worship.gif
Click to expand...
The concept that glycogen has to be depleted for fat oxidation is a nice old concept, but still not correct. Origonally thought of from research showing low intensity cardio took ~20mins to get to the highest % of fat oxidation. Taking this to the ultimate conclusion they decided it must be 20m before any fat oxidation is happening, which was directly false. the greatest % of fat utilziation happens at <60-65%vo2max, but the greatest fat loss happens at >65% where glycogen starts becomming the main fuel.

Fat oxidation during the training period is not important, as weight loss mirrors the caloric output of the training(+epoc. )
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Why are you doing cardio on an empty stomach are you sub 10% BF?
Click to expand...

Nope, I am at about 12-13%. Would like to be sub 10. I am doing cardio on an empty stomach because I like running in the morning and I cannot run after eating. Plus, I do not feel like I am running out of energy so I see no need to eat at 5:45 in the morning.

Additionally, after a 45 min run at about 75% MHR I get in a set each for two bodyparts at the previous workouts weight( keep changing which bodypart I workout).
 
How much cardio is recommended while bulking, if one wishes to stay healthy and reap the benefits of it? What kind of cardio should be done?

I'd see HIIT sprints 2x a week being adequate, along with three days of training per week. Though, I'm sure a pre- and post-workout shake would be in order surrounding the sprints.
 
The problem I have with combining cardio and frequent weight training is not only an issue of comfort, but also an issue of overtraining my legs. This holds true to HIIT in particular... if I do my HST routine 3 days a week, and HIIT on my off days (even if there is a complete rest day in there), my legs get burned out real fast. When bulking up this becomes a problem because I naturally train with higher volume (and thus need more days of total rest), and when cutting up, the same happens because I recover slower, even though my training volume is reduced. I suppose there would be some sort of cardio machine that doesn't place that much stress on the thighs, but I only have my elliptical bike to work with.

I dunno, maybe my legs just need more "conditioning" to fix this. It could be as simple as that.
 
LittleBigHorn,
I also can't stand doing any form of cardio. Plus, I'm trying to bulk so haven't really been to motivated. Lately, I've been considering purchasing a heavy bag... between jumping rope here and there and a nice little boxing routine, that might be enough to spice things up.

Anyone have any thoughts on this as a main choice for cardio?
 
HIIT type of cardio is really any type of activity which is strenuous for some time, with chillout zones interspersed within.. so you could for instance do squats with a light load for the same HIIT effect (as in do 20 quick reps, rest for a bit then do it again and repeat the cycle in the same way you'd do it with jogging/running cycles), the squat is really the best single exercise to do it with as it hits so many muscles at the same time, but really any 2 other compound exercises with light loads could be used instead.

So pick something you like and run with it.

S.
 
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