No Cardio While ON!

[Columbus]

I want o be as strong as I can get in compete in two years....right now I'm only 170, but my qyestion is regarding cardio....My trainer says to do none and itll help me train with more power...I wanted to do it sat and sun mornings but I skipped today (havent doen it in two months and feel like a slug, I am training 6y days a wek so its almost like Im tossing in a few cardio sessions.....jus curious......anyone not do ANY cardio on cycle and stay LEAN? When it comes contest time, I will switch to 2 x day but I think I should be 180 before I start again, you? Also, cycle doesnt start for awhile..thoughs?

anyone stay lean with diet and traing alone? My apologies is this is a noth :Jkurz thread: but Im confused as to wheteher or not it;ll really help aside from the health benefits....I do strlll my pup eveyday for a good 20 minutes....plus weekends, I'm up and moving a ton more....alhough my cheat days are on the weekends..... feasted last nigh (strawberry qquick and a box of fig newtons and 2am 0 damn damn good!0...thoghts........if yu do none, how do you stay so lean on a ood mass diet?

[finny]

I'm sure others will chime in. I'm sure there are a lot of people that don't do cardio and get great results; get lean, get big, what have you.

To me, cardio represents cardiovascular health and I will always do it. Right now, I'm training 2on-1off and on my off days I do low intensity cardio. Am I sacrificing some gains - maybe, I rather loose 1lb of muscle than have unhealthy heart or higher bp than otherwise. Besides, low intensity cardio can't be too taxing on your system?

[Columbus]

so, for heart = yes, but bf = no.....correct?

[Warrior]

so, for heart = yes, but bf = no.....correct?

Sort of, AAS is linked to potenital heart damage so I like to limit major cardio sessions while on... preferring to adjust diet over added strenuous cardio sessions.

IMO, the best thing is to get cut up prior to the cycle and then enjoy the free flow of gains - to maximize muscle growth without worrying too much about fat... then cut up again after pct. Remember too - when you think you have a spill over that is leading to fat gain; much of it could be edema and water retention - if you confuse this with fat gain, you'll cut calories or increase cardio and hinder the gains you could have accumulated. The water softness is only temprary... don't confuse it with fat gains. One way to tell the difference is to pinch the skin on your fingers - it should fall right back, if it leaves an indent, you are retaining water.

Is this a modest cycle - or a heavy bulker?

[Columbus]

modest npp, test, eq....are you sayiong leave the cardio OUT until fat gains become notcible?

[Snrf]

columbus u shouldn't even be on cycle

[Columbus]

I'm not Smurfy.....question is cardio related.......

[Snrf]

I'm not Smurfy.....question is cardio related.......

question is about Cardio while ON cycle genius, or did you forget what you asked?

besides, I know ur on gear right now, this isn't the only board I frequent Lugar!

[ebjack]

this isn't the only board I frequent Lugar!

I thought we were the only one!! you cheater!!

I'm tellin mom!!

[Vinlander]

Training any other muscles, including your heart, will take some gains away from your target area. That's inevitable, unless you want to stay bed-ridden and do curls all day for larger biceps. No matter how much a marathon runner eats, for instance, he will never have gigantic pectorals and lats; his legs and heart are his primary muscles.

The real problem here, Columbus, is that your frame is meant to support 170lbs of weight. Adding 50lbs, or even 20lbs to that and walking around without long periods of sedentary activity is putting a lot of strain on your heart. Think of trying to drive a Chevy 1500 with a VW Bug engine and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about.

Keep in mind what your heart is for: pumping blood and supplying your body with the vessels that will oxygenate it for use. The absence of any cardiovascular workout (i.e.: heart strengthening) will not only leave you winded for much of your life, as you'll be carrying around a huge amount of unnatural weight, but also be potentially fatal in the long-run. This is the same problem morbidly obese people have; don't think it's just the fat or cholesterol killing them.

So while it may slow your gains ever-so-slightly, please do the cardio! I'd hate to see you put all that work in and keel over from an "AAS-related" heart attack; the government'll use any excuse to use someone as the poster child for another anti-drug campaign.

[Schmidty]

Training any other muscles, including your heart, will take some gains away from your target area. That's inevitable, unless you want to stay bed-ridden and do curls all day for larger biceps. No matter how much a marathon runner eats, for instance, he will never have gigantic pectorals and lats; his legs and heart are his primary muscles.

The real problem here, Columbus, is that your frame is meant to support 170lbs of weight. Adding 50lbs, or even 20lbs to that and walking around without long periods of sedentary activity is putting a lot of strain on your heart. Think of trying to drive a Chevy 1500 with a VW Bug engine and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about.

Keep in mind what your heart is for: pumping blood and supplying your body with the vessels that will oxygenate it for use. The absence of any cardiovascular workout (i.e.: heart strengthening) will not only leave you winded for much of your life, as you'll be carrying around a huge amount of unnatural weight, but also be potentially fatal in the long-run. This is the same problem morbidly obese people have; don't think it's just the fat or cholesterol killing them.

So while it may slow your gains ever-so-slightly, please do the cardio! I'd hate to see you put all that work in and keel over from an "AAS-related" heart attack; the government'll use any excuse to use someone as the poster child for another anti-drug campaign.

fow show

[texasmk4]

cardio is always good

[Columbus]

1x a week suffient for weight purposes....right?

[Warrior]

1x a week suffient for weight purposes....right?

Try and maintain what you can put out in 20 minutes or so... if you can ride the Lifecycle and burn 400 calories in 20 minutes - try and keep that constant. Don't try and improve, just maintain your cardio numbers... and nothing longer than 20 minutes.

I workout first thing in the morning and 20 minutes of cardio is enough to sustain my cardiovascular stamina (built up from prior cutting/priming), get the adrenalin pumpin' and get warmed up for some heavy weights...

[xtremepwr]

So the point is to maintain your current cardiovascular levels, not try to increase them nor up cardio in order to cut up on cycle as to not stress the heart?

[outlawtas]

I would be weary of anyone that recommends completely dropping cardio from your routine. Now, obviously you don't want to do 7 hours a week, but you should have 2 - 3 low intensity sessions to not only maintain cardiovascular health (which is of upmost importance, especially as you age and even more so if your cycling) but also to keep the fat off.

I really don't see it taking anything away from your gains at all, if it's done properly.

[Warrior]

So the point is to maintain your current cardiovascular levels, not try to increase them nor up cardio in order to cut up on cycle as to not stress the heart?

Actual cutting cycles are generally modest cycles. If your weekly androgen use is quite high - to bulk up - then too much cardio will impact gains due to the negative concurrent training effect; as well as increase stress on the heart during a vulnerable period...

Periodization works - it's that simple. And you can not design a training cycle to peak both endurance and strength - lots of recent studies have been published on this.

During bullking periods, simply amintain your endurance by doing maintenance cardio sessions. Most shouldn't stop cardio completely; the stamina is needed. AAS use can be heavy during this time.

During cuttying periods, use a maintenance strength routine to preserve what you have while increasing cardio. AAS use should be modest during this time.

[Property of Steroid.com]

I was drinking with a group of dudes one night, and one happened to be Jimmy Wendler (of WestSide Barbell) and he was telling us about how he was trying to break some record or other, and he was in such bad shape that when he walked his dog he had to stop and rest between light poles on his street.

Is it healthy to not do cardio on a cycle? Not at all...if you're trying to break world records...probably necessary...other than that, I'd recommend cardio to everyone on a cycle.

[Schmidty]

I was drinking with a group of dudes one night, and one happened to be Jimmy Wendler (of WestSide Barbell) and he was telling us about how he was trying to break some record or other, and he was in such bad shape that when he walked his dog he had to stop and rest between light poles on his street.

Is it healthy to not do cardio on a cycle? Not at all...if you're trying to break world records...probably necessary...other than that, I'd recommend cardio to everyone on a cycle.

Did he really have to stop at every light pole? was he a fat guy?

[Property of Steroid.com]

Did he really have to stop at every light pole? was he a fat guy?

I met him awhile after that time in his life. He wasn't fat when I met him...I don't know what he looked like back in the day...

[Warrior]

Having stamina is very important to stregth athletes; training with limited rest intervals and increased intensity is necessary for many... training that gets you sweatin' and sick to your stomach.

But heavy cardio sessions while trying to increase your power/strength levels is too difficult... and training your heart on a heavy cycle just dpesnt sound smart...

[Dobie-BOY]

So, warrior are you telling me I should not do sprints while on a heavy cycle?

[Warrior]

So, warrior are you telling me I should not do sprints while on a heavy cycle?

Sprints are brief and can be more anerobic than aerobic... don't do pickups where you jog inbetween sprints. Sprint, than walk and allow your heart rate to drop back doen before competing another "set." Sprints can be similar in demands to a heavy squat day if done right...

[Property of Steroid.com]

Honestly...check out the Jim Wendler interviews on Elitefts.com. He goes into conditioning (he was a D1 collegiate football player, then a champion PL'er, then he got back to his D1 playing shape). He goes into drugs, training, etc...really great stuff.

[Dobie-BOY]

I often train very intense. Working two or three body parts at a time. Gets my adrenaline pumping, heart rate up, upset stomach, sweat like a mad man. I dont do much cardio where I feel like circuit training does me quite a bit of good cardiovascularly. I do sprints a couple times a week.

[Dobie-BOY]

Ya, I have started doing sprints on an incline after leg day. I think it is helping my calves too.

[Warrior]

Ya, I have started doing sprints on an incline after leg day. I think it is helping my calves too.

Thats functional strength there... working the body the way it was designed. Just keep track of your times and distances so you know what kind of progression you get - plus, bodyweight makes a big difference in your numbers too. If you sprint the same speed at 240 that you did at 230 - your legs are stronger.

[iggyh28]

Dont you have to do high intensity cardio to actually work out your heart? If you do low intensity arent you only burning fat?

[Warrior]

Dont you have to do high intensity cardio to actually work out your heart? If you do low intensity arent you only burning fat?

It's a little more complicated than that... Sprints are high intensity but brief enough that they can be anaerobic in nature - sometimes without even breathing, depending on the distance.

And I have never liked the idea of low intensity cardio... people that can burn fat by walking or riding a bike on level 2 simply have nice genetics; the rest of us need a little more effort. If you manipulate your diet correctly you can create key opportunities to burn up fat with heavy cardio sessions (45-60 minutes of really pushing yourself) - while sparing muscle mass.

[iggyh28]

How is that done? manipulating your diet

[Dobie-BOY]

Im simply regurgitating what I heard here, but I have heard that the best way to maintain cardiovascular fitness without hindering your gains is to sprint - walk -sprint- walk - etc.....

[Warrior]

How is that done? manipulating your diet

That's a thread in itself. Personally, I like the idea of cyclic ketogenic diets... and find a 7-day split is the most effective for preserving muscle... longer rotations would start to require concurrent drug use to be protein sparing...

Im simply regurgitating what I heard here, but I have heard that the best way to maintain cardiovascular fitness without hindering your gains is to sprint - walk -sprint- walk - etc.....

Depends. Some cycle, some sprint - the thing is that you don't want to outright train for endurance - just preserve the condition you have already obtained.

What I know about myself:

My preference is to cycle for 20 minutes at a maintenance speed - this keeps stamina up; as well as gets me warmed with adrenelin for some heavy lifts. I am currently engaged in a short/heavy cycle after 10 weeks of priming/cutting... during that time I was using a 7-day CKD and cycling hard for up to 60 minutes and burning up to 1400 calories in an hour at key fat burning opportunities. I was also doing occasional pick-up sprints for 2 mile distances - though not as often as cycling due to frequently low glycogen/energy. I know that at this condition I can comfortably cycle for 20 minutes and burn 375 calories (not inputting bodyweight but using the bike's default). Now that I have switched from priming to bulking - I will only try to preserve that 20-minute output level.

[Columbus]

many pros will say do no cardio at all during bulking.......some advocate a little 20min session.......daily.....some 1-2 week

Me, I will do 1-2 moderated days in the am........cardio isnt gonna keep the fat off, it's gonna keep my heart tickn......hell, many many do none.....I dont think IBF* has done any in months or Nark.......