Bulking and running

**Chemical King** · 09-17-2004, 01:25 PM

Im trying to bulk up and add about 2 stone of muscle naturaly, but wanted to know if I shold be doing much cardio. I would like to continue cardio as I want to stay fit and enjoy running. But will this effect the speed of bulking or should I just eat more to cover the loss of calories during cardio workouts ?

**Megadeth** · 09-17-2004, 07:22 PM

I'm in the same boat as you Shaun. I love my cardio way too much, as I used to run cross country for years in highschool. Makes bulking a real mission. I'm glad you asked this question, cuz i was gunna do the same myself. Wish my bodybuilding was as good as my wind lol. Good luck bro

**Chemical King** · 09-18-2004, 04:08 AM

Yeah, I thought of laying off the cardio a bit but dont really see why I should drop somehting that I enjoy. I think its the constent target breaking and pushing your own personal barriers to the limits is something that lifting cant do as well. But since I want to bulk up a bit I decided to trim 30mins off my cardio sessions but then I still found that I was just pusshing myself harder to get faster times to cram it all in so now im back to my normal 90mins with and just throw in an extra protein shake at night an hour before bed

**Bigpup101** · 09-20-2004, 11:28 PM

bulking and running..sounds like an oxymoron to me

**Chemical King** · 09-21-2004, 08:31 AM

An oxymoron? Sorry mate youve lost me there like. But hey why would I value your opinion when I dont even know you ?

**shwamin2004** · 01-28-2005, 07:27 AM

I'm having the same problem because I play football and the coaches told me to join track but im also trying to put on like 15 lbs at the same time....and....its REALLY HARD.

**IronFreakX** · 01-28-2005, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by Bigpup101

bulking and running..sounds like an oxymoron to me

sarcasitic opinions r not needed here

**TheDfromGC** · 01-29-2005, 12:39 AM

bump for somebody who knows, im curious myself

**IronFreakX** · 01-29-2005, 09:06 AM

basically its very hard for some1 to do both at the same time (altho i am) u can but it will be hard some people say no cuz mass =more calories while cutting=less calories

**AnabolicBoy1981** · 01-30-2005, 07:40 PM

I would ask yourself why you love cardio so much, and look at the situation objectivly and see if you are holding yourself back.

Does the cardio serve a specific purpose? Sport?

If not, then you are doing it for reasons other than what is in your best interest. You will be getting mixed results and you will never be happy. Eliminating cardio for a year or so will not give you a heart attack. Look at it this way. Your body only has a limited supply of recovery resources. It doesn't have have one supply for cardio, and one supply for weight lifting. It just has one. So if you want to bulk up , i would eliminate the cardio completely. I understand you enjoy it. I like running to, i like to push myself, but you have to look at it objectivly so you can decide what will make you ultimatly happy.
What is your goal in bulking up? To aquire a more muscular body, or course. And having a more muscular body is important to you for many reasons, one of them being a sense of accomplishment. So you must decide what is more important: The temporary emotional enjoyment you get from pushing yourself on a tough run, or the enjoyment you get from having a more heavely muscled body.
Like I said, if your not in a sport, and it's not the in season, there is no need for cardio or aerobics.
You might try writing down why certain goals are important to you. Why do you want a more muscualr body? Respect from peers? Attention? Girls? Sense of dominence?
All of these have meaning to the majority to the men on this board, are a worthwhile motivating factors.
Then once you found what your motive is, weigh it against that feeling you get after you accomplish a good run.

It wasn't until i started asking my sef these introspective questions that i could conduct my training more clearly.

I have elimenated cardio, and i find the strength gains much better.
You may want to stay lean which may be your motive in doing cardio, but you can stay reletivly lean while bulking if you eat only slightly beyond maintenence level, say 300-500 calories.

and any fat you put on, don't worry, it will come of faster when you decide to lean up due to your increased metabolism from the several pounds of muscle you will probably put on.

**carbs-rule** · 01-30-2005, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by Chemical King

Im trying to bulk up and add about 2 stone of muscle naturaly, but wanted to know if I shold be doing much cardio. I would like to continue cardio as I want to stay fit and enjoy running. But will this effect the speed of bulking or should I just eat more to cover the loss of calories during cardio workouts ?

I think you answered your own question. If you want to continue cardio and stay fit, then i would go ahead and continue it. If you find that you are not gaining muscle, just eat more. It might effect the speed of bulking, but I think the benefits of being in good shape (not just muscular) outweigh any bulking issues.

**AnabolicBoy1981** · 01-31-2005, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by carbs-rule

If you find that you are not gaining muscle, just eat more. .

I have to respectfully disagree with him on this.
Simply eating more will not neceassarily make up for the catabolic actions of running. It may, to a small extent, but nothing significant.
Catabolic actions cannot be compenstated for by an inverse increase in one anabolic action, such as eating. You would have to increase all of the body's anabolic pathways, something that can't be done without drugs.The body will only soak up what it needs to fuel muscle growth.
There was once a bodybuilding motto that went "There is no such thing as overtraining, only undereating."
By this logic, taken to extreme, a person could weight train 18 hours a day, and in a month have gained 50 pounds of muscle and actaullized his full muscualr potential provided he eat 20,000 calories a day.

Training of any kind poses a inroad into recovery ability, weather it be cardio, or lifting. If you choose to do cardio, you must realize that you cannot cancell it out with more food.

Heres something else to think about as well. It is sciantific fact that when doing significan't amounts of cardio the body has a tedency to convert the involved muscle tissues over to more "slow"twitch muscle fibers, which as you may know do not hypertrophy (grow) anywhere near as fast as "fast" twitch fibers.
This means you could be really be hampering your leg muscle growth.
And as we all know, the faster your legs grow, the faster our uppper body grows as well.

Something to think about.

**Hot-Rox** · 01-31-2005, 07:26 PM

You must be able to compromise for the greater good of your development. You run less, eat more, and increase the intensity of your workouts. Not forever, but give yourself a reasonable time period. 90 days, bulking diet, bulking workout, reduced cardio (not elimination).