Bodybuilders are insanely strong athletes with lots of muscles and low body fat. They are incredible athletes who are not afraid of anything. Or are they? Well, some bodybuilders are actually afraid of… cardio.
Yeah, that’s right. Unfortunately, lots of bodybuilders do not do cardio. You can see many guys in your gym never doing cardio, despite them almost living in the gym. The reason why those bodybuilders do not do it is because they worry that cardio training is going to undo their months of hard work. They are afraid that they’ll end up losing the hard-earned muscle instead of fat.
Usually, such people are confused about what cardio to do and what is the best cardio for bodybuilding. Because after all, cardio is extremely important. Nonetheless, whether you’re preparing for a competition or simply starting out in the world of bodybuilding, there’s no doubt that cardio for bodybuilding can be extremely helpful. So, it is crucial to add it to your training regime. A proper bodybuilding cardio routine will help you lose lots of body fat and maintain muscle muscle strength and development. We’re here to help by sharing the best cardio for bodybuilders.
Cardio For Bodybuilding
Endurance training, AKA cardiovascular exercises or most popular simply cardio, will improve your heart’s ability to pump blood and increase the amount of oxygen that your cells can carry. Bodybuilding cardio is crucial because it helps you burn more calories and induce fat loss (or at least, decrease the amount of fat you may gain).
Similar to strength training, there is a science behind cardio and increasing its results. The amount of body fat that you are going to lose is directly related to the amount of fat burning elements that you’re focusing on. It’s not possible to get ripped while adding lots of muscle mass, simply because you’re likely to add fat too. This is the main reason why lots of bodybuilders follow an on/off season diet and training plan.
Off Season vs On Season
Bodybuilding cardio workouts are usually limited to one session a week during off-season training to ensure that all calories and energy go into building as much muscle mass. Some prefer not to do any cardio at all.
Nonetheless, during on-season, bodybuilders tend to add way more cardio. They usually add up to four bodybuilding cardio workouts a week to melt away any stored body fat.
They continue strength training, of course, in both seasons. Bodybuilders, however, still eat right with clean and quality food and a good ratio of macros. But they tend to add more cardio on season and reduce the amount of calories they eat.
What’s The Best Cardio For Bodybuilding?
As said, bodybuilders usually use cardio mainly to increase their calorie expenditure. There are usually two kinds of bodybuilding cardio workouts that you could mix and add to your weekly schedule. That’s low moderate intensity cardio and high intensity/HIIT.
Low Moderate Intensity Cardio For Bodybuilding
If you’re searching to burn calories but not damage the body’s ability to recover, you should look into low intensity cardio. It can be done pre or post weight training. Still most prefer post strength training to save on all their energy and stamina for strength training. This cardio type, as its name suggests, it’s much less strenuous on the body than high intensity cardio or the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). You could also add them on the days that you are not weight training. Low Moderate Intensity cardio also can be done outside the gym such as walking, bicycling, slowly running, and others.
HIIT/High Intensity Cardio For Bodybuilding
I strongly recommend staying away from high intensity or HIIT sessions pre-weight training because it will significantly decrease your performance. In fact, it may be a good idea to avoid it even post-training because it would cause fatigue and increase the risk of injury.
Please understand that high intensity cardio will put stress on both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. Anaerobic is the energy system that is getting disturbed during weight/strength training. If you were to do weight training sessions and then continue with High Intensity Cardio for bodybuilding, it may put too much stress on the anaerobic system, potentially damaging your recovery.
Two Types Of High Intensity Cardio:
- Continuous High Intensity. A good example of continuous high intensity cardio is using a treadmill or elliptical machine at high speed for longer than 5 minutes.
- High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Interval training involves alternating periods of exercise and rest (or lower levels of work). For example, HIIT is when you run a 100-meter sprint at full speed and then walk back to the start. May rest for a minute or may not and repeat.
Bodybuilding Cardio Routines
Weight training is your primary concern in most situations, especially as a bodybuilder. While you shouldn’t overdo it on weight training as it can lead to injury or impact your recovery, you should overdo cardio as it may impact your recovery, now allowing your body to gain the muscles you’ve worked hard for. Whether you’re trying to gain muscle or lose fat, you need strength training. Yet, bodybuilders still need to do cardio suitable to their requirements. Exactly as in a diet the amount of calories is different, the same here – the amount of cardio is different, depending on your goal, fitness level, and recovery time.
Keep in mind that as you start to lose weight, your fitness level will improve and you’re likely going to need to increase the duration and/or the intensity of your cardio.
Here’s an example of how you may do a bodybuilding cardio routine for adding lean mass:
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: 45-60 minutes of weight training and 30 minutes low intensity cardio post workout.
- The remaining weekdays are rest days.
Another way to do it:
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: 45-60 minutes of weight training.
- Wednesday and Saturday High Intensity cardio or HIIT (can mix). Sunday – rest day.
Lastly:
- With more experience, people tend to combine the two previous examples. I mean, the same routine as in the first example, but adding high intensity cardio or HIIT (or mix both) on Wednesday and Saturday.
- It’s important to always have at least one rest day (usually Sunday).
FAQ
Although there’s a lot of information on the internet, not all of it is accurate, true, or helpful. To achieve your goals you need to be informed and do it all correctly. Here I am going to share top tips for cardio for bodybuilders that can help you stay on the right bodybuilding track.
When’s The Best Time To Do A Bodybuilding Cardio Workout?
According to both research and pro bodybuilders, the most effective time to perform cardiovascular exercises is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. That’s because your body is going to take its energy demands during cardio from fat stores, instead of burning through carbs first and then moving on to fat.
Don’t worry if you’re not a morning person. It can still be highly effective late afternoon as long as you follow a proper diet. Which you actually should be following as long as you’re aiming at bodybuilding, regardless if you’re a morning person or not.
What’s The Best Intensity For A Bodybuilder Cardio Workout?
The intensity varies from one person to another. It is measured by the percentage of your max heart rate while you’re performing a particular exercise. You will effectively burn fat when you are steady at around 65% of your maximum heart rate. A lower percentage won’t be as effective. A higher percentage won’t allow you to keep it steady and your body’s energy demands will come from carbs more.
To work your max heart rate, subtract your age from 220 and multiply it by 0.65. That should be an ideal heart rate per minute to maximize the fat burning benefits of your cardio sessions.
How Long Should Cardio Last?
Well, if you’re training for a marathon, the answer will be very different. However, if you only want to burn fat and train for bodybuilding, you only aim to use cardio to increase oxygen flow to your muscles and to burn fat. In such cases, for optimal results, cardio is performed 3-4 times a week. If it’s high intensity cardio, you start lower, at about 5 or max 10 minutes per session. If it’s low intensity cardio, you may start at 20-30 minutes.
Can increase the length of your cardio sessions by 5 minutes each week as your physique condition improves. Do it until you reach a total of 30-35 minutes of high intensity cardio per session or about 60 minutes of low intensity cardio per session.
Do Bodybuilders Need To Warm Up/Cool Down?
Yes! Everyone involved in physical activity should warm up and cool down. Everyone should be involved in physical activity, regardless if talking about athletes, bodybuilding or simply remaining healthy.
Rushing in or out of a cardiovascular session will put unnecessary stress on various organs such as your heart, muscles, tissues, and joints. It is important to stretch before you walk, walk before you jog, and jog before you run. If you attempt simply to run at your maximum speed without warming up, the chances of injuries are already high!
You should slowly increase the pace over a 3-5 minute period until you reach your ideal heart rate. Start slowly to avoid injuries. Then, you should cool down by walking over 3-5 minutes toward the end of your workout, especially after high intensity cardio. Sudden stopping and laying down, for example, puts a lot of stress on your heart. And yes, as horrible as it may sound, there were cases when people died from a sudden heart stop after high intensity cardio and then sudden stop.
I Follow A Clean Nutrition Plan, Do I Still Need Cardio?
Yes, everyone needs it. Bodybuilders need it, athletes need it, anyone. Regardless of how strict or nutrition-dense your diet is, you cannot achieve your maximum definition without cardio. While you can achieve an extremely good physique without it, cardio will help maximize the results. Moreover, the opposite is true too. Regardless of how much cardiovascular exercises you do – you will never reach your maximum definition without a clean and quality diet. Or, without strength training, which is obvious as you won’t gain muscle.
It’s important to understand that nutrition is extremely important regardless of what your goal is, regardless if you use anabolic steroids or not. It is crucial for bulking up or cutting down. The difference is that to burn fat you need to burn more calories than you consume. To gain muscle you need to eat more calories than you consume. To find your daily calorie intake, you need to multiply your body weight by 15-17, depending on your activity level (or use online calorie calculators).
Should I Take Any Supplements As A Bodybuilder?
While most of your results come from a clean and thoroughly thought-out diet in combination with a proper and good workout regimen (both including strength training and cardio), various supplements and products can actually help you a lot. They will usually greatly help boost your results and maximize the effort that you put both in the gym and in the kitchen.
Optimum nutrition, for example, is vital to success as a bodybuilder. But various supplements can greatly help reach your goals or maintain your body in peak condition while making gains, support your immune system, and protect your organs while reducing risks of injuries. For example, there are protein powders that can be very effective as protein is vital for a bodybuilder. Or there are Omega-3 supplements that can support your heart health. Or various supplements to protect your liver. They can all be helpful.
Nonetheless…
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