off season cardio

[trainlikeafreak]

who does cardio in the off season? apart from the health benefits, are there any other benefits of doing cardio when bulking?

[mike27]

easy to do a higher intensity weights workout if ur cardio fitness level is kept high

great to get the blood flowing after a heavy weights day

im no expert tho :?

i feel hungrier after a cardio session later in the day compared to a weights only workout, so i find that it aids me in getting down the days food :nod:

well thats for me anyways

[HarryB]

who does cardio in the off season? apart from the health benefits, are there any other benefits of doing cardio when bulking?

I try and 20 mins a couple of times a week, just when my appetite starts to die. I do however do a lot more activity in general, boxing and just a higher activity level in general. Good to keep everything mobile as you gain weight.

[baysprop]

Would depend if you want to keep your fitness up while bulking then yes go for runs/HIIT training if you dont really give a shit then no just enjoy eating and lifting heavy..I bulk through the winter so i have to do it for rugby with long runs or sprint training to keep my fitness up..I feel better when i am fit.

[Optimass]

who does cardio in the off season? apart from the health benefits, are there any other benefits of doing cardio when bulking?

I try and 20 mins a couple of times a week, just when my appetite starts to die. I do however do a lot more activity in general, boxing and just a higher activity level in general. Good to keep everything mobile as you gain weight.

same same :ditto: ... although lately the only cardio I have been getting is walking to the escalator .... accross to the food court ... back again

[WANABJAKD]

i dont really "need" to do cardio per se, and by that i mean in order to stay in shape; however, i choose to do it for the health benefits.

its helps to condition your cardiovascular system, increases appetite, increase HDL and a number of other positive effects, so why not? i have mild asthma, so doing cardio for that reason alone is worth it.

i normally do 15 minutes post workout with my heart rate around 130-140. i personally like the crosstrainer. HIIT is also good.

[WANABJAKD]

do you guys think keeping your HR at 80% of your MHR for a sustained period of 15 minutes is ok? or would it be better do do HIIT instead?

[mike27]

better to use heart rate reserve percentage

i do my interval training @ 80% and 90% HRR

[Android]

After these comps I am going to try and eat pretty much whatever I like for bulking up again but this time continue doing the 45 minute AM walk I was doing before. The AM walk got me down from 16% to 10% so am keen to see if keeps me in check while I eat excess calories again.

Optimass used to do a small amount of cardio each day and was mananging to keep hold of 120kg from memory - ay Opti?

[snoopy]

Helps to build muscle, and sprinting boosts testosterone. Helps to build muscle by increased cappilirisation, or the expansion of the blood vessels which in turn helps with recovery and nutrient delivery.

[devil_911]

continue doing the 45 minute AM walk I was doing before. The AM walk got me down from 16% to 10%

hey bro do you like to eat something or take any supplement before morning walk or not?

[Android]

continue doing the 45 minute AM walk I was doing before. The AM walk got me down from 16% to 10%

hey bro do you like to eat something or take any supplement before morning walk or not?

No I don't, except caffeine and/or T3 to get heart rate up quickly.

Not against it, just that BCAAs or Glutamine are fuel, and if I was an efficient bodily function I'd use what's floating in my blood before I dragged out any fat to use as energy.

Plenty do though and they lose fat just as well so im not sure what the best is...sorry hope that helps at all.?

[devil_911]

continue doing the 45 minute AM walk I was doing before. The AM walk got me down from 16% to 10%

hey bro do you like to eat something or take any supplement before morning walk or not?

No I don't, except caffeine and/or T3 to get heart rate up quickly.

Not against it, just that BCAAs or Glutamine are fuel, and if I was an efficient bodily function I'd use what's floating in my blood before I dragged out any fat to use as energy.

Plenty do though and they lose fat just as well so im not sure what the best is...sorry hope that helps at all.?

I was given advice along the same lines as to what you just said but I was having hard time convincing myself.

If you are able to hold on to the lean mass without BCAA or Glutamine then

I guess it is good to go.

I intend to try it from tomorrow and see how I go

[Optimass]

After these comps I am going to try and eat pretty much whatever I like for bulking up again but this time continue doing the 45 minute AM walk I was doing before. The AM walk got me down from 16% to 10% so am keen to see if keeps me in check while I eat excess calories again.

Optimass used to do a small amount of cardio each day and was mananging to keep hold of 120kg from memory - ay Opti?

Yeah mate - little bit each day to maintain but at the time was 80%+ as I prefer to run ... suspect if I started regular cardio again, and not that intense I'd drop slightly as I have been stuck at 127 for months now but with gradually declining bfat.

Have really ramps up the cals this week to see if I can break it. Not healthy weight as such but sometimes shocking the body nutritionally is equally as beneficial when bulking as switching out your routine.

hey bro do you like to eat something or take any supplement before morning walk or not?

No I don't, except caffeine and/or T3 to get heart rate up quickly.

Not against it, just that BCAAs or Glutamine are fuel, and if I was an efficient bodily function I'd use what's floating in my blood before I dragged out any fat to use as energy.

Plenty do though and they lose fat just as well so im not sure what the best is...sorry hope that helps at all.?

I was given advice along the same lines as to what you just said but I was having hard time convincing myself.

If you are able to hold on to the lean mass without BCAA or Glutamine then

I guess it is good to go.

I intend to try it from tomorrow and see how I go

Even on Keto I'd still take a small no carb shake with water pre-AM cardio. It takes a little while for any real damage to occur on a day to day basis when depleted - and if you are not in ketosis and doing AM cardio you're less likely again to do any real damage provided to still have a quick meal after a walk.

I think people can get hung up on the notion that you can rapidly lose "muscle" (generalised term) from doing cardio when fully depleted (AM).

Lets say you want to add 500g of lean muscle over a 6 month period. Everytime you do a resistance train you get 0.10g of muscle, then if you have a shake after you train you get an additional 0.05g of muscle,

then if you eat a solid meal with a reasonable amount of protein in it you get an additional 0.05g muscle,

but you forget to pack your next meal and miss it by two hours so you lose 0.01g of muscle but then you sleep for 8 hours and gain 0.04g muscle ....

Hopefully the point I'm trying to make is that your ability to do more of the right things will obvious increase the number of increases you make but they may vary in outcome/benefit as do the things that compromise it. But sometimes the things that compromise growth in this example can also compliment other elements that will give you benefit.

do you guys think keeping your HR at 80% of your MHR for a sustained period of 15 minutes is ok? or would it be better do do HIIT instead?

Depends on what you are trying to achieve - I have in the past done 3-5 40minute sessions per week at 80% and not experienced any weight loss but did experience a drop in bfat and increased fitness which was the primary goal. (rem doing a 45 min weight session and then a 60 minute adv spin class - taking only a nocarb shake in water between).

its helps to condition your cardiovascular system, increases appetite, increase HDL and a number of other positive effects, so why not?

exactly ... thats what I'm mean in my point above - if thats a benefit you want then do it ... if it works against your ultimate goal of gaining 500g muscle in 6 months ... just do more of the things that counter the adveese impacts of longer 80%+ workouts.

Helps to build muscle, and sprinting boosts testosterone. Helps to build muscle by increased cappilirisation, or the expansion of the blood vessels which in turn helps with recovery and nutrient delivery.

:nod: Sprinting uses exactly the same energy resource as a set of 10 squats - so good for development and for cutting as it also runs your heart rate up to max and then recovers like HIIT.