Active recovery is the process of increasing your blood flow and circulation by, well, being active, in order to help your muscles recover. It’s going for a brisk walk versus sitting on the couch after a lifting day. If you have a tendency to overeat on a bulk, adding in some cardio will bring the surplus down to proper lean-bulking levels if managed properly. You may think you’re “eating big to get big,” but you could be absolutely wrecking your health if you’re not offsetting all of that food with a little bit of cardio. A high-calorie diet (especially one full of sodium, saturated fat, and sugar — or a dirty bulking diet) is a major risk factor for high blood pressure. Lots of saturated fats can also contribute to high cholesterol levels.
Doing too much high-intensity cardio while bulking can interfere with your goals. Looking to maximize muscle growth and strength gain during your bulk? Check out this ultimate guide on how to mix hypertrophy and strength training. For that reason, I recommend you do minimal cardio outside of normal activities of daily living if you are someone who struggles to gain weight. On the other hand, if you are someone who doesn’t have issues gaining mass and wants to maintain some level of cardiovascular fitness during a bulk, adding some into your regimen may be beneficial. In this article, we will discuss what types of cardio should you do to not impede on the weight gain goal of a bulking period.
You’ll gain muscle mass if you eat more calories than you burn. A clean bulking program can only succeed if it includes the right aerobic exercises and if they are done at the right time. There are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to exercising and weight gain. Volume of reps with little weight, focus on lifting heavy weights with proper form, especially on compound exercises like the barbell squat and bench press. Lengthening your rest time between heavier sets will allow you to keep up with your workouts. Consuming too much fat – go through bulking logs of people on forums and half of them are chugging peanut butter and ice-cream like crazy, only to end up with 50% of their bulk as pure extra fat.
The calories will supply your body with the raw materials necessary for muscle growth. However, some people may experience an increase in fat instead of muscle gain, especially how to fill out a fidelity express money order if your daily intake of calories is too high. Without the energy and the fuel, via a surplus of healthy clean food, you can not make the improvements you need.
You can do super-sets (i.e. alternating between exercises) if you give yourself adequate rest. Whenever I reach this point, I do a quick one week cut back to 6%, and resume my nice, ultra-clean bulk. Once I saw how lifting could change my body, my passion turned to bodybuilding. I loved the feeling of pushing my body to its physical limits. Hi there, I’m Harsh, personal trainer and chief editor at Alphamale.co.
So, yes, the more cardio you do, the harder it will be to gain weight. And if you can’t gain weight, you won’t be able to build an appreciable amount of muscle. Then, when you’re ready to increase the amount of cardio in your routine, you could add in a brisk walk for an hour on the weekend or toss in a couple of 30-minute cardio sessions during the week. That’s going to allow us to build muscle at full speed while also getting the benefits of doing more cardio. It still won’t be as ideal as a dedicated cardio routine, but it’s getting closer. The researchers found that for about half of every bulking workout, the participants had the ideal heart rate for improving cardiovascular fitness.
If your lungs and heart aren’t up to the job, you’ll feel it pretty quickly. With just a little cardio training, you’ll be able to dramatically enhance their functionality which will improve your longevity and overall health. To reap the benefits of cardiovascular exercise, you’ll need to maintain a modest activity level.
Here, we’ll go into great detail on whether or not you should do cardio. You don’t need to eat until you’re painfully full to achieve a caloric surplus. Instead, try to eat a complete meal every 3 to 4 hours throughout the day.