Diet and cardio

[greekfreak]

Well I am 15 weeks out from the show, the diet has not been much of a problem as of yet. But the blasted cardio sessions or intense and often leave me feeling fatigued espically during a leg day. My cardio sessions have been up to 30min everyday. My question for the guru's is should I lessen my cardio day before my leg day in order to save my legs for lifting? I am currently doing the stair mill at 30 mins with a step rate of about 75 depending on how I feel. Would love the feedback

 

[majsi98]

I think it would be helpfull for those wanting to answer your question if you specified if you cardio in the morning? Before lifting or after lifting?

 

[killbill]

Well I am 15 weeks out from the show, the diet has not been much of a problem as of yet. But the blasted cardio sessions or intense and often leave me feeling fatigued espically during a leg day. My cardio sessions have been up to 30min everyday. My question for the guru's is should I lessen my cardio day before my leg day in order to save my legs for lifting? I am currently doing the stair mill at 30 mins with a step rate of about 75 depending on how I feel. Would love the feedback

No cardio leg day and always morning cardio if possible. IMO this has worked best for me

 

[eroc613]

Quote from a Mr. O, that always makes me smile, " Don't wanna burn up my legs, dog!!"

 

[greekfreak]

doing cardio after lifting. on off days cardio is in the a.m.

 

[b-boy]

Well I am 15 weeks out from the show, the diet has not been much of a problem as of yet. But the blasted cardio sessions or intense and often leave me feeling fatigued espically during a leg day. My cardio sessions have been up to 30min everyday. My question for the guru's is should I lessen my cardio day before my leg day in order to save my legs for lifting? I am currently doing the stair mill at 30 mins with a step rate of about 75 depending on how I feel. Would love the feedback

if you can post up your diet first. If you are on very low or zero carbs and doing INTENSE cardio well then your gonna feel like shit and overtrained.

 

[doug1]

if you can post up your diet first. If you are on very low or zero carbs and doing INTENSE cardio well then your gonna feel like shit and overtrained.

yep. steppers, stepmills, these hit the legs pretty hard and direct. my first choice is a treadmill at reasonable angle. then a stationary bike. elliptical sometimes, but this does get the heart rate up kinda high, gotta watch that.

 

[bears26]

it all depends on your body type, is your metabolism crazy fast, and you do have 15 weeks...you have a bit of time to play with your diet to see what works best maybe you can add a few carbs for a bit more energy. as for cardio on leg day, i would do it just keep it light or just go back in the p.m and hit it hard, but like doug 1 said steppers are hard on your legs so use the treadmill with a decent incline at around 3.5 or so...you will sweat....good luck

 

[kdtl61]

My first question is how much weight do you plan to lose in 15 weeks? I'm a big fan of the long diets. Ok, not so much a fan as it gets me stupid ripped.
I dont think we know how big you are and how much you need to drop. Leg days I would do evening cardio with a walk out doors. All other cardio am on empty belly. Ten as you need to step up cardio add something post training.

Good luck and I would suggest you select a weight to drop each week/month and make it happen then ease up a few days etc.
K

 

[BabyBeast05]

Well I am 15 weeks out from the show, the diet has not been much of a problem as of yet. But the blasted cardio sessions or intense and often leave me feeling fatigued espically during a leg day. My cardio sessions have been up to 30min everyday. My question for the guru's is should I lessen my cardio day before my leg day in order to save my legs for lifting? I am currently doing the stair mill at 30 mins with a step rate of about 75 depending on how I feel. Would love the feedback

Bro your gonna be tired. Keep your cardio up if anything do less on leg days but you have a good bit of weight you have to drop and only have 13 weeks to do it now. Sometimes you gotta just nut up! I know Greek freak, I'm helping him with his training and I'm just trying to get him ahead. I'm a big believer of being in close to stage shape a few weeks out so you don't have to make drastic changes at the end and this cardio is what he needs. It's his first show, he doesn't know what's it's like to compete yet and I'm sure all you who have steped on stage know sometimes you just gotta nut up if you want to get the job done!

 

[Lenny]

Yes

if you can post up your diet first. If you are on very low or zero carbs and doing INTENSE cardio well then your gonna feel like shit and overtrained.

I remember when I prepped myself last year and transitioned into a very low carb plan, cardio intensity dropped because it just tore me the F up...so I did low/moderate intensity...pretty much walked for cardio when I got that low in carbs...live and learn thru trial and error with your body. This year is a whole different story and learning a ton from Alex during this prep.

All depends on carbs and exact diet plan as B-Boy mentioned.

 

[b-boy]

Bro your gonna be tired. Keep your cardio up if anything do less on leg days but you have a good bit of weight you have to drop and only have 13 weeks to do it now. Sometimes you gotta just nut up! I know Greek freak, I'm helping him with his training and I'm just trying to get him ahead. I'm a big believer of being in close to stage shape a few weeks out so you don't have to make drastic changes at the end and this cardio is what he needs. It's his first show, he doesn't know what's it's like to compete yet and I'm sure all you who have steped on stage know sometimes you just gotta nut up if you want to get the job done!

question for you? which is more beneficial for contest prep, 30 min of cardio? or a very hard intense leg session? just a question for you as im interested in your opinion and point of view thats all.

 

[b-boy]

I remember when I prepped myself last year and transitioned into a very low carb plan, cardio intensity dropped because it just tore me the F up...so I did low/moderate intensity...pretty much walked for cardio when I got that low in carbs...live and learn thru trial and error with your body. This year is a whole different story and learning a ton from Alex during this prep.

All depends on carbs and exact diet plan as B-Boy mentioned.

LOL lenny i think you may be the only one that understood my post

 

[Lenny]

LOL lenny i think you may be the only one that understood my post

Yes...I know what you were talking about, I never understond why anybody would want thier training (resistance training) to suffer from cardio. We are bodybuilders first, not endurance athletes...use cardio to condition the muscle (It doesnt take super high intensity to do that), the rest of the prepping will be your hardcore training and diet strategy..case by case depending on macro intake! But, I still say there is no way in hell I could do high intensity cardio on low carbs!

We are not swimmers, but muscle builders, trying to bring the most lean muscle to stage with the full and hard look, so first eat to hold muscle or possible even gain muscle, train hard - do not hinder this part of the prepping, then use cardio to clean it up! I always used cardio to eat more, stimulate hunger the right way, bring my conditioning up to par! This year I eating alot more and keeping the cardio steady (enough to sweat some, which is not that hard for me), will not go into further details becaus Alex is covering my prep this year and would not be fair to his services.

At least that is my thoughts and I think B-Boy is thinking along those lines!

 

[buselmo]

Sometimes your body plays tricks on you...
your legs get smaller, less full, less cuts... so you think it's negatively impacting your prep...
stop cardio for 2 days and load up on carbs and sodium.. if on the third day your legs look bigger than they ever were and totally pumped, then it's good for you. if not, then i guess that kind of intensity on cardio isn't good for you..

i'd say stepmill or "the gauntlet" would kill your legs if you are not the type of guy who gets the best leg training by doing higher reps and lower weights. switch to something else that keeps your heart rate up, but doesn't fatigue your muscles too much. YOU SHOULD NOT BE TOO TIRED WHERE YOU CAN'T TRAIN LEGS AT FULL FORCE!!

my legs and calves ALWAYS grow when i do more cardio... they get smaller while i do the cardio, but once i stop for 2 or 3 days and start eating more "junk" , they look bigger than they ever were.

but, as most have said, it's trial and error bro... but cardio is just that... CARDIO... you shouldn't tire out your muscles from cardio.

 

[Johnny Smiles]

i never do more than 10 minutes for contest prep. (thanks for the tip phil!)
ok, i am lying, i rarely do more than 7 minutes lol.
i let diet and weight lifting raise my metabolism so i don't need much cardio just a little after burn
i NEVER do cardio on leg day. seems unneccassary. -JS

 

[BabyBeast05]

question for you? which is more beneficial for contest prep, 30 min of cardio? or a very hard intense leg session? just a question for you as im interested in your opinion and point of view thats all.

I believe they are equally as important and vary with where you are in your prep. If your at say 7%bf at 13 weeks out then that leg training is more important. But if your 20%bf at 13 weeks out I think cardio should be high in your priority list. And as for my buddy his 30 min is supposed to be moderate intensity, it should not be killing him. 30 min on the stairs for me at that moderate intensity does not kill my legs for training the day after but everyone is different