Too Much Cardio Off-season?

[HoIIywood]

Keeping cardio in year round at 20-30 minutes 5-7 days a week will be one of the best things you can do for your health, progress and mental well being.

The whole cardio kills gains is outdated bro science (if that’s a thing LOL).

Couldn’t agree more.

 

[TomJ]

Keeping cardio in year round at 20-30 minutes 5-7 days a week will be one of the best things you can do for your health, progress and mental well being.

The whole cardio kills gains is outdated bro science (if that’s a thing LOL).

I feel like most side effects and issues people experience can be mitigated with some cardio.
All the horror stories involve guys that do zero cardio.

BP a little wild? do some cardio.
Fatigued or lethargic? Cardio
No gas to get through training sessions? Cardio
Insulin sensitivity? Cardio
Digestion? Cardio
Sleep issues? Cardio
Water retention? Cardio


I HATE cardio, but all of its benefits are crystal clear and very tangible for me, so my cardio and steps are always done without fail, even if I dont have time for my actual training sesssion, i make sure my cardio is always done.

 

[aimanabolic]

BP a little wild? do some cardio.
Sleep issues? Cardio
Water retention? Cardio

Haven't had any noticable difference for these since adding cardio, but my overall sense of feeling healthier is better.

Only 3 months since I added cardio though.

The others you listed I never had an issue with.

 

[TomJ]

Haven't had any noticable difference for these since adding cardio, but my overall sense of feeling healthier is better.

Only 3 months since I added cardio though.

The others you listed I never had an issue with.

to be entirely fair, 2 are super conditional and kinda nuanced.

Water retention has way more to do with diet than cardio, and sleep is gonna be individual and very specific to certain situations, but i added them for dramatic flair because im feeling jazzy

 

[d4ve]

+1 for off season HIIT, short sessions but frequent. At this point I’m doing more than Justin even prescribes in the off season. Major difference in RHR and training endurance.

If anything I might end up starting next prep with lower cardio than off season. IMO hard cardio is more important in the offseason. You need to actively improve your body’s CV capacity as you’re pushing bodyweight, adding new (vascularized) tissue, and generally doing things that would otherwise harm your CV health.

Prep- probably just want to maintain CV capacity, assuming you kept it golden in the offseason doing the above. Then it becomes an as-needed tool to manipulate your energy balance.

 

[buck]

If by cardio you mean walking at a fair pace then that can be doable daily. Although may not be optima. Anything more intense i find requires more of my recovery ability. As i see it the body only has a certain amount of recovery ability and that includes all types of stress. And the more it is spread around the les there can be for muscle growth.

 

[tommyguns2]

Based on a lot of the discussion here, I've been diligent in getting 5000-10000 steps (or other type LISS) each day, and I've become a believer. Benefits all around, and it doesn't beat me up like HIIT can do at times.

 

[cesarpaiva]

i do 10-11k steps and 30min fasted cardio ed

 

[b-boy]

I just get steps in, I don't consider what I do as cardio even though I may get on an elliptical machine every so often, it's nothing groundbreakingly hard..LOL
Walking at a slight incline I don't consider cardio either.
When prepping for a show then that's when I eventually start doing cardio at some point in prep and walking at a high incline and doing some stepmill (very little) or really picking up the pace and resistance on the elliptical.

 

[Vanguards]

I just get steps in, I don't consider what I do as cardio even though I may get on an elliptical machine every so often, it's nothing groundbreakingly hard..LOL
Walking at a slight incline I don't consider cardio either.
When prepping for a show then that's when I eventually start doing cardio at some point in prep and walking at a high incline and doing some stepmill (very little) or really picking up the pace and resistance on the elliptical.

Agree with this

See a lot of people get on the bike and play on their phone, or they'll walk on the treadmill and not even break a sweat or barely get their heart rate up and call it cardio.

I think true cardio involves getting the heart rate up and sustaining that rate for X amount of time.

 

[Corgopop]

Just want to thank everyone who told me to keep it in. @bbxtreme, @slesh, @Vanguards, @madg and others. Still doing my hour every morning, and energy feels better than ever on a push.

 

[dimethyl11]

+1 for off season HIIT, short sessions but frequent. At this point I’m doing more than Justin even prescribes in the off season. Major difference in RHR and training endurance.

If anything I might end up starting next prep with lower cardio than off season. IMO hard cardio is more important in the offseason. You need to actively improve your body’s CV capacity as you’re pushing bodyweight, adding new (vascularized) tissue, and generally doing things that would otherwise harm your CV health.

Prep- probably just want to maintain CV capacity, assuming you kept it golden in the offseason doing the above. Then it becomes an as-needed tool to manipulate your energy balance.

What do you like doing for HIIT

 

[d4ve]

What do you like doing for HIIT

Always the stair stepper, except for the rare occasion when I'm traveling and there isn't one available, in which case I'll use a stationary bike. But I have stairs in my garage, and it's what Justin recommends - for good reason. No better way to get your heart rate up fast, and they're super low impact.

You can push a Prowler / sled, as well...I had to resort to that for a week during COVID before we bought our own stair stepper.

Offseason sessions are 12 minutes, 1 minute easy, 1 minute as hard as possible as you can maintain for a full minute. So it's just 6 rounds total. Some people would say it's not "true" HIIT because you're not really pushing at 100% for a full minute. But a 1:1 work:rest ratio is probably more applicable to bodybuilding.

I've actually been doing that 5x per week since prep ended - every day other than legs and heavy back. I might dial it back at some point deeper in the off-season...maybe not. It's doing a great job keeping me fit as I get back to 300 lbs. and then some.

 

[AllOkJumpmaster]

30 minutes fasted LISS, HR 120BPM or higher, anywhere from 4- 7 days a week, but at a minimum of 3 session a week is ideal for heart health etc. 1 session that pushes you vo2 max would be even more ideal.

 

[mytreefiddy]

LOVE LOVE LOVE cardio......but max i cap it at 45min.......15.0 on the treadmill at 3.8-4.0..

 

[Jgardn14]

Hello, I recently finished a cut where I got leaner than ever and am planning to start pushing up.

During the end of this phase I’ve worked up to an hour of cardio fasted in the morning. However, I honestly very much like it. I enjoy doing the actual cardio once getting started, and it sets my day starting right.

As long as I pay attention to recovery (and of course make sure I am still eating enough to gain), I was planning to keep it in as I continue to gain.

What is the highest cardio in OFFSEASON you guys have done? Do you see any issues with this?

Even if all you do is walk the dog, do some cardio. Keep the heart healthy. I think 20-30 minuets of activity a day is the least one should do.

 

[EdgeCrusher1982]

If by cardio you mean walking at a fair pace then that can be doable daily. Although may not be optima. Anything more intense i find requires more of my recovery ability. As i see it the body only has a certain amount of recovery ability and that includes all types of stress. And the more it is spread around the les there can be for muscle growth.

Your work capacity can be made larger just like your muscles can. If you're hard core about this lifestyle then you're hardcore about diet sleep and recovery too. Get those in line and then add in more and more work and you can raise your total work capacity just like how you build your muscles over time.

 

[st114]

I do an hour of walking every morning to wake up. And sometimes 30 mins of cardio right after. 30 to 45 more after training.
So many benefits to it, even if it stopped mass gains by 10% it would still be worth it in the long run.

I don’t consider walking cardio. Just a normal human function. If walking is so difficult it becomes exercise that’s a problem IMO. Walk and do real cardio

 

[aHarness]

If by cardio you mean walking at a fair pace then that can be doable daily. Although may not be optima. Anything more intense i find requires more of my recovery ability. As i see it the body only has a certain amount of recovery ability and that includes all types of stress. And the more it is spread around the les there can be for muscle growth.

The body can surely handle more than a brisk walk alongside intense training. If you can’t handle 20-40 mins of bike/elliptical etc in a nearly daily basis in the offseason, you have a serious recovery issue going on.

 

[Fit2Serve]

cardio a must in offseason
pre contest depends on alot of factors