Trying to gain weight! is cardio bad?

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I'm a modest size 6' 160lbs. I would like to "fill out" and become a bit bigger to gain twenty pounds over the next couple years would be great.

I enjoy being in shape, I'm athletic and enjoy doing cardio such as running. I have pretty good endurance.

But if I want to gain weight(lifting, eating right...) should I not do cardio at all? or just limit myself??
I'm afraid that running/biking will inhibit my weight gain.

I've always been a skinny guy, all my older brothers are cut very well so I definitely have it in my genes to work towards a good body :)
 
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In general, cardio only makes your heart bigger. So no you will not see an increase in size.

Basically lift weights and lots of them. Low reps, max weight is best for size building
 
I have about the same, very similar body frame as yours. I'm 6'3ish and went from 155 to about 160 in a month after my junior football season, i believe it is 100% muscle because I look a lot more cut and ripped then I did before.

I would recommend doing some form of cardio exercise, whether its warming up with basketball then hitting the weights or running a mile or two a week. It is good to keep up with cardio so you keep the bad carbs low and you burn the excess fat you are more than likely to get while bulking up or building muscle.

Do NOT overwork the cardio, but imo I would do some form of cardio every week.
 
If you want to put on "weight" eat carbs, potatoes are the best bet. I went on a sweet potato kick and put on 10 lbs in about two weeks.

Putting on larger muscles...do a few reps of high weight, use big muscle group workouts, deadlift, bench, squat and pull-ups.

MG
 
Depends how you go about it...Some form of cardio is recommended by many body builders in many books...cardio helps your body to better utilize Oxygen adding to your strength which in turn adds to your intense workouts.

I don't believe doing none would be more detrimental regardless of not wanting to loose weight...just do it at a rate & duration that burns fat & not muscle. Perhaps Body Type may effect this outlook...has always worked for me.

Regardless of what I think...good luck with finding what works for you. Totally agree with sugarloaf...heavy lifting/good recovery times!! & muscle diet! and be patient.
Dave
 
For hypertrophy...8-12 rep range with medium to high weghts.

As for cardio yes go for it as long as you don`t over do it.

Diet and making sure you`re in a calorie surplus are the mst important
 
I personally like to do 10-20 minutes of cardio with my weight gaining session. Just make sure to eat more carbs afterward to still be in calorie surplus. The cardio just makes me feel better but it's no the empasis of my workout just the counter-balance to weight training.
 
as long as you are in a calorie surplus (eating more calories than you expend during the day) you'll gain weight. So if you do cardio, you just need to make sure that you eat enough to cover the cals burned so you stay in a surplus. Cardio is great for health.

As for what reps to lift with, everyone is different. Some gain mass with high, some with low, for many it's different for different muscle groups. You just need to experiment. My advice though, if you find out you like lifting heavy, then do so, if you find you like the opposite, then do so, but don't be afraid to mix it up. The most important thing is that you do something you enjoy, that's the only way you'll stick at it for the time it will take.
 
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