LESS FOOD OR MORE CARDIO?

[HONGOGRIMES]

Basically this post is what do you guys think about these two scenarios either in bulk or for stay lean.
The confrontation is to eat more and do more cardio or eat less and do less cardio.
For example (the two scenarios)

-Option 1: I eat a lot more food (+6/700 calories over the maintenance level or even more in bulk season and less than 300 in the cutting phase), heavy progressive training, cardio every day or most of them (4-7 sessions of 30-40 min on the treadmill)

-option 2: slight surplus + 200kcal maybe, in case of cutting more deficit (-500-600), without cardio or maybe one day in some recreational occasion (soccer, tennis, basketball)

Who will look better? Will it be the same in terms of body composition?

my humble opinion: I do not have an answer but I think that primarily to bulk the largest amount of food (more calories) will achieve a larger size accompanied by cardio. (without so much fat)

 

[buck]

My personal opinion is that some more in between the 2 would be best and healthier.

 

[Bleed]

In my estimation, the answer depends entirely on the person you are putting in this scenario.

 

[Gunsmith]

I've found that you can rearrange your macros and keep the calories the same and change your look significantly with out change anything else.
I can replace my carbs with protein and lean out significantly despite the calories the same and being in a huge protein surplus I find that I don't get flat like if I just reduced the calories from all carbs

 

[tren_plz]

Can’t carve a pebble. Eat.

 

[Geardepot]

Are you speaking in terms of a natty, or with anabolic enhancements?
GD

 

[Freedom15Muscle]

I do more cardio on purpose to eat more. I have always been an eater.

Sadly I once thought about competitive eating. I have done a few contest and challenges, but being a lard ass doesn't really translate in this lifestyle. :/

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[maldorf]

What worked for me was to increase exercise volume and decrease calories a bit at the same time. Who says it has to be one or the other? Do that and decrease the carbs some and replace with more protein, but overall decrease total calories.

 

[Rogue]

Why not play around with BOTH,
Till you find a balance that works for you.

 

[HONGOGRIMES]

I personally worked better with food and more cardio. But this year I implemented that due to DC posts. I always managed the calories to lose weight, and I ended up eating 2000 kcal or less and my appearance was honestly not good. It seems like I have to do cardiovascular activity because I get soft quickly, that is also to say that due to my lifestyle I remain sitting on a computer for a long time.

 

[HONGOGRIMES]

Are you speaking in terms of a natty, or with anabolic enhancements?
GD

I'm natural. but the question goes in general, I have fun knowing what you think and above I learn and try new things!

 

[prodaf]

less food

 

[USMuscle9403]

If you love to eat like I do, then always keep some kind of cardio in there to get away with it. I walk almost everywhere, so I'm doing often 30k steps a day, and still do cardio on top of that. I always feel better with more food.

 

[johnjuanb1]

Can’t carve a pebble. Eat.

Exactly! I spent way too many years trying to grow on mostly protein shakes.
10 shakes a day. It worked because I took insane amounts of AAS.
Now, I eat a lot of real food, take 1/10 the AAS, and I’m growing real well. I’m not super lean like I was on shakes and mega doses, but this is a lot healthier.

 

[epoxy]

Higher volume weight training for sure. Then more protein, more carbs (around workout time) and less fats.

Cardio (generally speaking) burns shit for calories unless you are going all out, in which case most guys on a BB forum are going to ask why the F you are doing that in the first place. Best way to make your legs smaller, do more cardio.

If I supplement extra cardio it's in the form of LISS or stair stepper to kill my legs. And it's not long term or anything that could become potentially catabolic or negatively effect weight training.

 

[epoxy]

Exactly! I spent way too many years trying to grow on mostly protein shakes.
10 shakes a day. It worked because I took insane amounts of AAS.
Now, I eat a lot of real food, take 1/10 the AAS, and I’m growing real well. I’m not super lean like I was on shakes and mega doses, but this is a lot healthier.

Real food for the most part (especially if you're cooking it yourself) is so much easier on the digestive track anyway. I always had to take extra digestive supps when I was drinking more shakes - I'm also lactose intolerant so I keep my dairy to a minimum. 1 a day now, 5 whole meals. Egg whites FTW. My favorite thing to do now every morning is set the oven to 350, fill my muffin tray with egg whites, add a sprinkle of shredded cheese, salt, pepper, 15 minutes in the oven and BAM i have 12 egg white patties, have some microwaveable jimmy dean turkey sausage patties and that's one hell of a meaty breakfast.

 

[beastmode121]

when I didn’t do cardio; my conditioning wasn’t the best, then I started and it was good; then I added it twice a day and I was shredded.

deficit + cardio then slowly add cardio if you’re getting hungry or drop carbs If you don’t have a huge appetite


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[Black Beard]

Basically this post is what do you guys think about these two scenarios either in bulk or for stay lean.
The confrontation is to eat more and do more cardio or eat less and do less cardio.
For example (the two scenarios)

-Option 1: I eat a lot more food (+6/700 calories over the maintenance level or even more in bulk season and less than 300 in the cutting phase), heavy progressive training, cardio every day or most of them (4-7 sessions of 30-40 min on the treadmill)

-option 2: slight surplus + 200kcal maybe, in case of cutting more deficit (-500-600), without cardio or maybe one day in some recreational occasion (soccer, tennis, basketball)

Who will look better? Will it be the same in terms of body composition?

my humble opinion: I do not have an answer but I think that primarily to bulk the largest amount of food (more calories) will achieve a larger size accompanied by cardio. (without so much fat)

There are diminishing returns with cardio. Too much will affect performance and appetite levels (increase hunger), and make you flatter due to glycogen depletion.


There's a sweet spot where you can increase your TDEE by 200-400 points. This is equivalent to take a fat burner drugs like clenbuterol without the side effects.


This is why they say things like "You can't outrun your calories". 2-3 cookies is already 200-400 calories, this is why diet is so important. One snack can make the difference between being in a deficit or maintenance/surplus.

 

[GreenTLB6]

Less food for sure

 

[Love_to_Bodybuild]

When I go down to my lower calorie days I look better. much better.

I walk quite a many steps for work , but even on my days off , just going into the gym and doing something like function fitness, physical therapy, riding my bike to the gym and back, just that little extra helps with the combined effort of eating less calories.