Cardio for bodybuilders

A forum for anything related to cardiovascular training.

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aryan007
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Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by aryan007 »

Hi,
I do weight training 4 times a week. I also do yoga & yogic breathing exercises.

I do abs regularly. ab muscles have developed quite a bit but because of the stubborn fat it doesn't show.

Therefore I decided to do cardio 3 times a week.

I have never done cardio before other than playing sports when I was in 20's.

So I decided to do spot jogging as much as I can.

But problem is when I attempted to do spot jogging I found that a) I am out of breath withing 5 mins. & b) calves are getting too tired to continue.

What I am looking for is a low intensity high volume cardio plan .

I am ready to go for a 1 hour session.
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Boss Man
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by Boss Man »

When you say weight training, what are you referring to, the abs or more than that.

Also what sort of foods do you eat what times do you eat them, as I would say these things could be looked at more so than necessarily cardio at this present time, although that can also be addressed as well.
aryan007
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by aryan007 »

Boss Man wrote:When you say weight training, what are you referring to, the abs or more than that.

Also what sort of foods do you eat what times do you eat them, as I would say these things could be looked at more so than necessarily cardio at this present time, although that can also be addressed as well.
Day 1
---------
Morning
Chest & Back

Pushups 3 sets (reps 20, 15, 10) with superset of
One arm dumbbell rows (reps 10 each)
Flat bench dumbbell press 5sets (10 reps each)
One arm dumbbell rows 3 sets (10 reps each)
Abs

Evening
Shoulders
--------------
Standing military presses 5 sets (10 reps each )
Dumbbell upright rows 5 sets (10 reps each )
Side laterals 3 sets (10 reps each )

Day 2
Arms
--------
Barbell curling 5 sets (10 reps each) with superset of
Skull crushers 5 sets (10 reps each )
Two arm dumbbell curling 5 sets (10 reps each ) with superset of
Skull crushers 5 sets (10 reps each )
Concentration curls 3 sets (10 reps each ) with superset of
Overhead one arm tricep extension 3 sets (10 reps each )
abs

DIet
------
Breakfast
Bread - 2 Slices Light Rye Bread, 2 slices
Generic - Cheese (Cheddar), 1/4 cup
Generic - 2-Medium Egg Omelet, 2 medium egg
----------------------------------------------------------------
calories : 383
carbs : 25
fat : 19
protein : 24
sodium :496
sugar : 1

Lunch
----------
Generic - Homemade Root Vegetable Soup With Pulses , 250 ml
Chicken Chicken Curry, 170 g
Veg All - Original Mixed Vegetables, 1/2 cup
Rice - White, medium-grain, cooked, 100 g
-----------------------------------------------------------
calories : 464
carbs : 47
fat : 13
protein : 37
sodium : 148
sugar : 4

Dinner
-----------
Same as lunch
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Boss Man
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by Boss Man »

The training is a it all over the place in some ways.

You've got no leg work at all in there and I wouldn't be inclined to do 13 sets of curls in one session, not when you've done 11 sets of rows movements earlier in the week, because rows to some extent stimulate the biceps.

You're doing 10 sets of press movements in one workout, that will stimulate the triceps to some extent, then 13 sets of tricep work in another workout, so it's more than likely you're overdoing it on both muscle groups, bearing in mind the pushups as well and you could be overtraining the biceps and triceps.

You're getting 3 sets of work on shoulders per week, allowing for a bit of residual stuff off the miltary presses and push-ups, which might be enough, os you could leave that as is for now.

Effectively though you're training like someone who has gotten some sizeable mass and might do 3 big workouts a week, although many of those would go for 5 or even 6 days splits blitzing a muscle group to oblivion each time.

You arguably are not training enough, espeically without a leg workout and you might be sacrificing some of the muscle improvement gained after a workout, when some muscles get little to no stimulation for nearly 7 days straight between workouts.

You're ealso eating 1,311 calories a day occording to your diet plan which is not enough, certainly not enough to be doing workouts that comprise of 10-13 sets of stimulation on some muscle groups, as guys doing big 10+ set workouts on muscle groups are usually eating around 3-4 times what you're eating.

So you need to cut back some of the bicep and tricep work. I'd limit to around 5-6 sets on both muscles groups on an arm day, in light of all the pressing and rowing stuff done per week and you need a Leg day as well.

You need to keep the days every other day, no back to back training days, to allow good rest and recovery.

Also you need to add more meals in, like some kind of meal between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner and you could have something about 2-3 hours after dinner.

You should aim to have at least around the same number of calories in each meal, as you would get from breakfast, but I'm sure you'll find a way of constructing these meals, to make them good enough, as in general the quality of the food you currently eat is good I feel.
aryan007
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by aryan007 »

I have made one mistake while mentioning workout plan.

I don't do 2 days back to back training.

Day1
Chest & back / Shoulders

Day2
Cardio / Yoga

Day3
Arms

Day 4
Cardio / Yoga

Day5
Chest & back / Shoulders

Day6
Cardio / Yoga

Day 7
Arms

I will decrease sets and include leg work as you have suggested.

I will try n eat more. I was also thinking of adding a protein shake to diet.
ChipPaulson
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by ChipPaulson »

I can`t condone this.
I explain this on site(saves me the trouble of typing it up again):
http://choppysreviews.com/fat-loss-f-a-q/
terryserrano
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by terryserrano »

I personally attribute this to yoga. Here's more about yoga, the science behind it, detailed stretches, exercises, and more to help you succeed in your next competition. Yoga teaches correct body posture and this is a fundamental element in bodybuilding. Additionally, many of the yoga poses are held for longer duration creating an isometric muscle endurance kind of workout. This is common in power yoga and more advanced yoga classes.
toddhicks209
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by toddhicks209 »

You say that you run out of breath and get sore calves whenever you jog. I think the main cause of this is that you don't run enough for your body to get used to it. As a beginner, try jogging for about five minutes then take a break for several minutes then jog for five minutes again. After doing this routine for a few days, increase the duration of your runs gradually.
shanilbeekarry
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by shanilbeekarry »

Hey Aryan,

I am a fitness model so I can relate to you a bit.

For me the best low intensity cardio to lost weight is more down to the time you do them for great effect.

For me I only do low intensity cardio post workout or a morning fasted cardio.

cardio session last a max of 45 mins.

But personally if I were you I would do a 45 mins low intensity jog in the morning on an empty stomach or use a treadmill.
Ashy123
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by Ashy123 »

Have you tried plyometric/tabbata style workouts? These are super high intensity (if you push yourself) but I find they don't hurt body the same way running does (I get shin splints). Here's a simple one https://blog.dukesgym.com.au/blog/workout-plyo-party/
With this style of training, the workout is only as hard as you make it!
jtnkkm
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by jtnkkm »

Cardio is great in combination with bodybuilding. It keeps you fit, and your heart healthy with more beats. Low intensity, high-volume exercise is important too. Plus it helps in losing fat, which tones your muscles
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Boss Man
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by Boss Man »

Firstly there is no such thing as toning a muscle.

Secondly short bursts of high intensity exercise have been shown to burn fat and potentially better than spending ages doing a lot of running at slow speeds on a treadmill for example.

Also you would not necessarily want more beats for your heart as it could cause a heart attack depending on the severity of the tachycardia, BPM over 100, although inevitably exercise can induce tachycardia depending on what is being done, which would probably be everything with the possible exception of yoga.

More beats from the heart would be preferable in people with bradycardia, BPM under 50, because it can be very problematic for someone who has an under-active heart rate, due to the bodies inability to adequately deliver vital oxygen supplies to key areas of the body, such as the brain and other organs, but elevated heart rate does not mean that all is fine in every instance and that someone is experiencing something healthy when they exercise, as exercise has occasionally been proven to kill because of induced heart attacks, either relating to a known or unknown heart defect or simply because of bad luck.

That statement was not designed to put people off exercise.
Vegas Jon
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by Vegas Jon »

well it sounds like you already know that low-intensity cardio is best for weightlifters. As far as a place, simply walk or use a stair climber and monitor your weight--aka no need to jump up to 1 hour per day immediately if you only need 20 minutes to continue your weight loss, etc.
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dmart69
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Re: Cardio for bodybuilders

Post by dmart69 »

Cardiovascular training mainly used to increase caloric expenditure thereby increasing fat loss or decreasing fat gain. In bodybuilding, our main goal is to lose body fat while maintaining muscle.
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