Cardio...Or not to Cardio. That is the Question

neplainjanepas

Alright so let me explain first. Currently, I am about 117lbs, 5'5 female. I go to the gym about 4-5 times a week doing heavy weight training. In September I weighed a whole 103lbs, so the weight gain was much needed and much loved! I am still hoping to gain a little more, and top out around 125. For my small frame any more would look sloppy.
I am currently eating about 2300cals per day, sometimes a little more, and almost always meet my macros.
Over all I have put on a few extra cm and even inches due to increased muscle mass and unfortunately (as to be expected.) fat. Especially around my mid section. I do core exercises, and am generally one of those people who looses weight no problem but putting it on is a huge effort. Because of this, I have been afraid of doing any sort of cardio regime in fears of just dropping the weight and going back to skinny mic skinnysen.

My fitness goals are more geared towards body building and not so much a tri athlete.
Any advice from a fellow body builder?

auddii

Not a fellow body builder, but doing cardio will just mean you have to eat even more to remain in a surplus.

I guess I'm missing it, but why are you wanting to add cardio? Do you enjoy it and miss it? Are you hoping to limit the fat you are gaining? Are you hoping to retain cardiovascular fitness because you use to do tris?

If you miss it and enjoy it, you can add it in and just eat more. Same if you want to do it because you're a tri athlete.

If you want to add cardio to limit how much fat you gain, that won't work really well. The best way to limit fat gain is to make sure you're in a small deficit and try to gain slowly. Since you say you can lose easily but have difficulty gaining, it may be best for you to do a longer bulk with a short cut after to get rid of some of the day you put on.

Your biggest issue will likely be mentally dealing with the fat during your bulk because you will gain fat.

FluffyAndFestive

I can relate to what you're issue is. I recently (5 weeks ago) started working out again after over a year off. I gained a lot of body fat and lost most of the muscle I worked to gain over the years. When I started I was all about losing to a certain weight then bulking up. After about a few days of that in the gym I found it super boring and stared lifting heavy again with about 45-60 minutes of light cardio after lifting. In the 5 weeks I have started I have lost 6 pounds roughly but my clothes are fitting way different. Having said that, I have also cut most cardio out the last week and a half to 2 weeks and focused on a cardio warm up, then lifting. I'm also eating with a calorie surplus and know I'll be adding fat onto the fat I already have. So I don't know if this suggestion will work for you or if you have already thought about it but if you're really focusing on the number on the scale maybe bulk up a few pounds above the 125 mark you want and then focus on a cut to shed the extra weight from your bulk and be the 125 you wanted. I hope you find a way that works best for you.

neplainjanepas

Hey guys thank you for replaying to my post!
I have been looking a little into maybe doing a 10 minute Kettle bell work our before lifting, and see how that works for me. I haven't been doing much of a warm up to begin.

Good luck to you guys

FluffyAndFestive

neplainjanepas wrote: »

Hey guys thank you for replaying to my post!
I have been looking a little into maybe doing a 10 minute Kettle bell work our before lifting, and see how that works for me. I haven't been doing much of a warm up to begin.

Good luck to you guys

Sounds good make sure to keep the kettlebell workout light so not to fatigue your muscles before your lift. I made that mistake a few times with my warm up. I usually keep my warm ups to 10-15 minutes also. All the best to you and keep us updated how your progress is with the change to your regemine.

ninerbuff

Fat gain inevitably comes along with gaining muscle. And vice versa when you lose weight. Look for just a moderate surplus and just train hard with volume.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

FluffyAndFestive

@ninerbuff that's great advice. Mfp says I should be taking in roughly 3,800 calories a day for a one pound weight gain, I've been keeping roughly to 2,800 to 3,000 instead, but on the higher end on more cardio days. I'm afraid of a big surplus adding more fat than muscle. So I keep the surplus moderate and train with volume. Hopefully in the next 4-8 weeks we will see how that pays off.

Working2BLean

Have your moderate surplus be in protein. And rest really is a key component to muscle repair and growth.

A moderate surplus with your hard lifting, and getting that rest your body needs, that will help you add muscle with minimal fat tagging along.

Yi5hedr3

That's a lot of calories for a little gal.....1900 probably about right.....