# Cardio & Bulking



## james22 (Apr 29, 2008)

Currently attempting to bulk from 89/90kg to 95kg. Whilst at uni a play a lot of rugby, and that usually covers my cardio, however for the past 3 months, ive just been eating and lifting. Some slight gains, but not as much as i was expecting and i suspect some of it is fat.

Do your bulking programs usually mean you cut out cardio near enough all together? Im not one for marathon runs, but i just generally feel unfit at the moment, breathless running up a few flights of stairs etc. I don't wanna start doing too much and burning off calories that i want to keep though.

Did a lot of kickboxing when i was younger so have been thinking about doing some boxing for cardio? Any thoughts?

Cheers


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## surge700 (Sep 24, 2010)

I tone down cardio when bulking, but keep 2-3 sessions of low intensity a week. Just make sure you get enough calories. I do it to keep from feeling unfit and unhealthy, and it means back in season your fitness won't be too far off the mark..


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## barsnack (Mar 12, 2011)

do 2-3 sessions of cardio (i swim 2-3 times aweek-10 laps), loads of benefits with this such as keeps your heart healthier to pump blood to the muscles which is vital for the gym


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

low intensity cardio should be fine and help you from feeling breathless from going up a few steps.. 

its all about calories in n calories out...


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## ActiveTom (Nov 21, 2010)

The problem with using boxing and boxing associated exercises like footwork, skipping, heavy bag, etc. Is that its difficult to dial in on the right target heart rate zone as boxing is inherently a very intense sport, youll find your heart rate fluctuating quite widely, making it difficult to keep to low intensity for a consistent amount of time.

From my own exploits and from the advice I have looked at from greater men than myself, whose judgement I trust, it seems that aiming for 2-3 session of 30-45 mins at 65% max heart rate of cardio tends to be a great way to keep in shape without burning off too many calories so as to ruin your gains. I personally vary between the upper and lower limits of the time, if I go in to do a 30 min cross-trainer session I might start it off with some shrugs/gripwork or something which isnt too intense, so as to lessen the volume of exercises required for other workouts. I almost welcome the workouts as they feel nice and easy, there isnt any dread, rather than what I used to do when I first started putting cardio in my life (when all round fitness was my priority, not pure muscle mass) which was consistently over 80% max HR on heavy bags, skipping, shuttle runs, circuit training and cross-training, but back then I was ripped with very little muscle mass.


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