Question about Bulking and Cardio

[TekToN]

Hello. I've been bulking for about 3+ months, I've put on about 12ish pounds. While bulking, I've been running about 3-4 times a week and about 2-3 miles each session. Am I running too much for my own good for a bulk? I was considering running maybe 2 times a week, 5 miles a session -- would this be better suited.

Here is my Goals: I weight about 160ish right now standing at 6'0 (started at 148) and I'm bulking until about March. I would like to be around 170 plus at that time before I begin my cut. I'm eating roughly 4k cals a day.


Any advice would be fantastic guys, I am new to this whole bulking a cutting thing, so don't pick on me! :laughing2:


thanks!

 

[dswithers]

You probably want to minimize cardio as much as possible during a bulk. Maybe try 2 times a week 3 miles or 1 time 3 miles and one time HIIT.

I don't know what your final goal is but at 6' tall you could carry a lot more than 170 pounds of lean body mass, so I would keep bulking a lot higher than 170 if it were me, as long as your body fat percentage doesn't get too high, which is unlikely if you are exercising with enough intensity and eating relatively clean.

 

[TekToN]

You probably want to minimize cardio as much as possible during a bulk. Maybe try 2 times a week 3 miles or 1 time 3 miles and one time HIIT.

I don't know what your final goal is but at 6' tall you could carry a lot more than 170 pounds of lean body mass, so I would keep bulking a lot higher than 170 if it were me, as long as your body fat percentage doesn't get too high, which is unlikely if you are exercising with enough intensity and eating relatively clean.

I know, Ideally I want to be around 180 and LEAN. But I'm not going to be achieve that in a year, little alone by march. I figured from about august to may I could go from a lean 148 to a lean 160. About 8 pounds of muscle or so. And still be cut. I may be able to gain 15-25 more pounds by march but I don't know if that would be the best route, I would have to lose a lot more too before summer.

 

[johnny83]

Hey Tekton, before I was on my bulk I was doin about the same amount of cardio as you give or take. What worked for me if you dont wanna lose that cardio conditioning is I cut the number of days to 2 maybe 3. But, I would do much more intense cardio like mountain running or other forms of extreme sprint stuff "you could use hiit aswell" just to keep my conditioning and speed. This worked well for me.

Im 5'10" and bulked from around 170 to near 190 lean at my highest. You said 180 would be ideal for what your lookin to do at your height, let me ask though, why the timeframe of march ? Why not keep goin til you feel your where you wanna be.

Personally, settin time frames always held me back. Good luck to you !

 

[TekToN]

Hey Tekton, before I was on my bulk I was doin about the same amount of cardio as you give or take. What worked for me if you dont wanna lose that cardio conditioning is I cut the number of days to 2 maybe 3. But, I would do much more intense cardio like mountain running or other forms of extreme sprint stuff "you could use hiit aswell" just to keep my conditioning and speed. This worked well for me.

Im 5'10" and bulked from around 170 to near 190 lean at my highest. You said 180 would be ideal for what your lookin to do at your height, let me ask though, why the timeframe of march ? Why not keep goin til you feel your where you wanna be.

Personally, settin time frames always held me back. Good luck to you !

Because I'm cutting for summer, I don't want to have a stomach, I'm going to be shirtless a lot. I think March and April, use that to cut... then maintain until about august and repeat. Is this slower process than what you advise? Probably. But I want to have my abs back for summer, and I'm willing to make the sacrifice of taking a bit longer.

I may take your HITT advice, that worked for me well last summer. I am already cutting cardio down to 2 longer days, we'll see.

 

[johnny83]

I hear ya Tek, but I see no reason why you cant have abs during and after a bulk session unless you are either eating way too much over your def or are dirty bulkin eatin anything in sight. The purpose of a bulk is not always just to gain lump weight, but to gain as much lean muscle mass as possible which in alot of cases can make your abs look even better then during a cut.
And then the cut after the bulk is to fine tune the muscle mass you put on. Never just to bust your butt tryin to lose what you put on.
That would defeat the purpose of the bulk. There are many common mis-conceptions of bulking.

If I had a stomach or beer lookin gut durin a bulk, I would never bulk.

Just my couple of pennies.

 

[TekToN]

I hear ya Tek, but I see no reason why you cant have abs during and after a bulk session unless you are either eating way too much over your def or are dirty bulkin eatin anything in sight. The purpose of a bulk is not always just to gain lump weight, but to gain as much lean muscle mass as possible which in alot of cases can make your abs look even better then during a cut.
And then the cut after the bulk is to fine tune the muscle mass you put on. Never just to bust your butt tryin to lose what you put on.
That would defeat the purpose of the bulk. There are many common mis-conceptions of bulking.

If I had a stomach or beer lookin gut durin a bulk, I would never bulk.

Just my couple of pennies.

I am trying to gain muscle as well as weight. I just think I will gain more muscle (no necessarily leaner) but eating in surplus to my maintenance cals. I've been bulking and I haven't noticed much of a different in my abs, but the veins in my shoulder/chest have gone away, I would like those back, and I can only imagine after my bulk and when I lower my BF even more they will look much better.

I don't know. I'll see where I am at in March and see what would be the best option for my body is probably the best idea for me as of now.