Is there a FAQ on combining cardio,lifting and nutrition?

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I've read a lot of things in books and on the 'net and heard a lot of things and like everything that has to do with health most of it contradicts the rest.

Most of all I want to know:
Will doing too much cardio negate the gain I make by lifting? Right now I lift 3-4 days/week and do 45 min cardio on the other days.
If I want to build more muscles should I add whey protein to my diet every day or just on training days?
 
Just think about it. To build muscle, what do you need to have? You need to have extra calories, so that your body has enough energy to put on added mass. On the contrary, what happens during cardio? You are burning calories that could be used to add lean muscle tissue. The answer to this issue is to make sure you eat extra calories to make up for what you burned. Also, I would back it down, like a lot. 45 minutes of cardio on non lifting days? I don't even do that much when I'm cutting down. Regardless, the simple solution is to make sure you are in a calorie suplus at all times!

As for using whey protein, have no illusions. Whey is not a super food, big gains product. It's just protein. Like chicken and beef. What's more important, is being in the caloric surplus like I discussed earlier. Do you have your eating plan all laid out?
 
MarkMyWords said:
...Whey is not a super food, big gains product. It's just protein. Like chicken and beef....

...Do you have your eating plan all laid out?
Click to expand...

I already eat a lot of beef,chicken and salmon. I'll rarely go one day without eating one of those but I wanted to see if maybe I could gain muscle mass faster while staying lean by adding some more protein from whey.

I definitely don't have a eating plan all laid out. I've been successful at losing weight and gaining muscle slowly. Just wanted to see if maybe I was doing some of the work for nothing and it seems like maybe this is the case.

I guess I'll try adding a little whey protein to my diet for a month or two and see where that leads me. I don't want to do less lifting because I want results and don't want to do less cardio either because I still want to get that %body fat down.
 
Well it sounds like you aren't really any different than others. We all want more muscle and to stay lean. The problem is that you might be approaching it in a less than efficient way. Sure, it is possible to eat at about maintenence, and put on little amounts of muscle, while also staying lean. The more ideal approach is to pick one, do it, then switch to another. If you eat in a caloric surplus and lift hard, you are going to make sweet gains. Sure you will put on a little fat, but thats why you can switch to a caloric deficit, and burn off the fat.
 
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So how much cardio should you do on non-lifting days?

I'm in the same boat. I want to bulk up a bit but want to keep things tight and maybe get rid of some of this extra fat.

Right now I'm eating 2900 calories per day of mostly clean food. (salmon, chicken breast, turkey breast, tuna, whole wheat pasta, etc) but after 2 years of very little cardio I've collected a couple areas of fat.

I was planning on hitting a treadmill 4 days per week on my non lifting days for around 30-45 mins, as well.

I was told here you can do cardio while bulking as long as you're eating enough:

http://training.fitness.com/weight-training/how-much-cardio-when-bulking-30522.html
 
I'd limit your cardio to 20 minutes a session when bulking. its good to keep the heart strong and healthy, but avoid burning too many calories.
 
What about doing HIIT 2 or 3 times per week on the off days?

Like I said I just want to tighten things up a bit and keep my heart healthy, I don't necessarily want to lose all my fat.
 
Off days if you are bulking should be used as pure rest... you want to let your muscles grow. Do cardio on the day you lift and I totally agree that 20 mins the max... almost any time unless you are a runner.
 
I guess that is what I meant, sorry.

I guess my goal is to get rid of the built up fat in certain areas, which of course means losing overall fat. By "tighten up" I guess I mean I wouldn't mind having a little layer of fat if it were more spread out rather than built up in a couple areas.

So if I do HIIT, I should do it on the same days I lift, after I lift?
 
Your body needs calories for "energy" to put on muscle? I thought it needed protein for that. Why does one also have to put on fat while putting on muscle? Ive been working out with weights and doing cardio at the same time and i have both gained muscle and lost fat. Dont let anyone tell you it cant be done because it can.
 
lma, I think you're giving some bad advice and it's not your place to do that. You MAY be able to do that, there are some people with differing body chemisty out there. Beginners are also able to lose some fat and gain some muscle at the same time.

But that's the exception, not the rule. Don't delude yourself into thinking otherwise.

Energy = mass. Calories aren't a unit of food, they're a way to measure energy. Drink a glass of milk and you take in about 70-90 calories of energy. If you don't exercise (expend energy), that energy gets stored as mass in your body. But that works the other way to: if you expend more energy than you take in, your body loses mass. Your average person's body CANNOT make significant muscle gains with a caloric deficit. It just can't happen. Your body can't lose any significant amount of fat with a caloric surplus. These last few people, all of whom have said to either bulk or cut, are right.

In short:

Caloric Surplus: Gain muscle and gain fat
Caloric Deficit: Lose muscle and lose fat

You CAN exercise/eat in a way that you will gain proportionately more muscle than you will fat, as well as lose more fat than muscle, but you WILL gain or lose BOTH.
 
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