Is one hour of morning aerobics ok on a mass cycle?

[mort]

I've just began a mass cycle, and doing aerobics 80% max heart rate, one hour/5days a week first thing in the morning. Based on the concept that morning aerobics will increase my metabolism. But I'm concerned about losing mass, as all too often we don't make these discoveries untill its too late.
Any insight into this topic would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mort

 

[Yanks231b]

If your trying to bulk, stop the cardio.

 

[Vageta]

You can do some cardio, but you must increase your calories to compensate. Also drop down to about 65-70% of your max heart rate. Keeping heart rate lower will lessen your chance of burning muscle as it will burn fat after a certain amount of time. I wouldn't recommend 5 days of cardio on a mass cycle though as it's just pushing it too much.

Cardio in general on a mass cycle is arguably a good thing as it rushes blood to your muscles and can help aid in recovery. I'd recommend cutting it down a day or two and maybe dropping the total time down for each session. You will still get the benefit from it but won't risk muscle loss.

And remember adjust calorie intake to compensate for the energy burned in cardio. Figure out how much calories you need to grow, then make sure to subrtract cardio and workout energy from that total and compensate with more calories. If you think you need 3500 calories a day to grow and you do 30 minutes of cardio and a 1 hour workout you might actually burn up 400 calories. Therefore you've only got a 100 calorie surplus which won't do shit. So on that day you should strive for 3900 calories, minus the 400 from exercise, and then you've got 3500 in the end.

This is a common mistake made by people so be aware of it.

 

[Par Deus]

You can do some cardio, but you must increase your calories to compensate.

There are a few studies that show lower leptin levels during overfeeding when aerobics is added, even if calorie balance is the same for both groups -- so upping food intake might not even do the trick.

 

[Vageta]

Interesting study. Personally I wouldn't touch cardio with a 10 foot pole while bulking. However it seems there are people that either love cardio(for the love of god I cannot understand why) or they are so paranoid about fat gain that they go to these extremes. Unfortunately they try so hard to not gain fat that they short circuit their growth opportunities. It'd be easier just to say "no cardio while bulking", but it'd be like arguing with a brick wall.

 

[Belial]

I gotta say I still do cardio when bulking. (Not much, though) I think this was after my last bulk/cut, where I skipped out on cardio entirely while bulking, but was so out of shape (heart/lungs wise) that it took forever to adapt, and be able to do my hour of cardio when it was time to cut. So yeah, long AM cardio sessions is not a good idea, especially not when you're bulking, but some cardiovascular work should make the inevitable cutting easier to get into.

Just my opinion.

 

[Train Harder]

I don't think cardio will hurt. I'm trying to lose weight and in the past 5 months I've lost 35lbs. of fat and put on 11 lbs. of muscle. I do 45 mins. cardio in the morning 5 to 6 days a week. Also I'm eating around 3500 calories a day. So if cardio hurt I don't think I would've gained the muscle. My 2 cents.

 

[Vageta]

If you're new to working out then you can do just about everything wrong and still come away with some muscle and lose some fat. You also say that you are trying to lose weight.

This person specifically is trying to gain weight in the form of muscle so cardio is not so clearly a good idea. I think light cardio can be beneficial but it would be very easy to go overboard. I'd suggest no more than 30 mins a day, 3x a week. Like I said though I don't think I'd perform any cardio on my bulk cycle. If you don't want to gain too much fat then eat clean and don't try to gain muscle too fast and you should be ok.

 

[Mr.X]

I'd say cut the cardio in the morning if you're bulking and do 20 min post workout..low-intensity...maybe walk up an incline on the treadmill with slow pace...remember when you bulk you need the calories.

Mr.X

 

[MS]

I would say it depends on your goals. If you wanna bulk and don't care about long term health consequences then leave out the cardio altogether. If you wanna bulk and keep some cardio endurance then I would recommend intense interval sprints for your "cardio". Otherwise you should keep a little areobic exercise in you program. You don't want to overdo the cardio becuase if you decide to "cut" at some stage then it helps a lot if you CAN shock your body with cardio. You don't want to become accustomed to cardio unless you regularly participate in sports that rquire cardiovascular fitness OR you want to maintain general good health all year 'round. In other words if you're an iron-head then drop the cardio or minimize it.