Cardio on a bulk?

Ben2055
Ben2055 Posts: 96 Member
edited November 26 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hey everyone, ive been doing my first bulk now for a week, think its gone quite well! Im eating 3000 calories a day on a 40/40/20 split.

I weighed(prior to this first week) 77kg and 5ft 11. Anyway ive stopped cardio completely! As im trying to stay at a surplus however i miss it, i miss playing football, squash etc.

How can i incorporate cardio into my weekly routine without it effecting my gains? I cant even be accurate on counting calories burnt, as it is stuff such as football squash and badminton!

Anyone offer any help?

Replies

  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    Do the things you enjoy and eat more.
  • Ben2055
    Ben2055 Posts: 96 Member
    jim180155 wrote: »
    Do the things you enjoy and eat more.

    Could i just pop my calories up by like 200 on days i do football, squash etc? Would that counteract the calorie burn?
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    Ben2055 wrote: »
    jim180155 wrote: »
    Do the things you enjoy and eat more.

    Could i just pop my calories up by like 200 on days i do football, squash etc? Would that counteract the calorie burn?
    Yes. You might have to experiment with the 200 calories to find the right number, but you've got the right idea.
  • mikevandewetering
    mikevandewetering Posts: 155 Member
    Just calculate your TDEE and eat 5-10% above it.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Ben2055 wrote: »
    jim180155 wrote: »
    Do the things you enjoy and eat more.

    Could i just pop my calories up by like 200 on days i do football, squash etc? Would that counteract the calorie burn?
    More like 600 unless you are playing for a very short duration.
  • robs_ready
    robs_ready Posts: 1,488 Member
    If you're going to do cardio, do a maximum of 20 minutes 3-4 times a week. If you want something much better than that i.e. reserve muscle tissue, HIIT is the much better option.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    You can still do cardio.. you will just have to readjust your calories to ensure you are eating more since cardio tends to burn a good amount of calories.
  • Ben2055
    Ben2055 Posts: 96 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    You can still do cardio.. you will just have to readjust your calories to ensure you are eating more since cardio tends to burn a good amount of calories.

    But i dont know how many calories ive burnt! Haha :(
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    Ben2055 wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    You can still do cardio.. you will just have to readjust your calories to ensure you are eating more since cardio tends to burn a good amount of calories.

    But i dont know how many calories ive burnt! Haha :(

    If you follow the tdee method and eat the same thing daily, you can figure out your average tdee over 4 weeks. In the end, all of this is a little trial and error. Start with a number, monitor for 4 weeks, adjust accordingly.
  • trojan_bb
    trojan_bb Posts: 699 Member
    HIIT 3-4x a week. Even 10 minutes. If you can get a few intervals at a HIGH heart rate (for me, like 160+) you can trigger significant fat loss. I do this fasted first thing in the morning combined with IF where I don't eat till around 12-1 PM.

    Doesn't burn a ton of calories but triggers some fat loss and it's healthy.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    trojan_bb wrote: »
    ... at a HIGH heart rate (for me, like 160+) you can trigger significant fat loss...

    Always worth calibrating what you mean by high. 160 is a bit below my running threshold, 10Km at 175bpm, whereas I'd anticipate HIIT to be coming down to 160 in the recovery windows, and maxing out about 200bpm in the effort periods.

    Notwithstanding that, for someone who is describing the original situation; football and badminton then it's a useful complement to that.
  • sjohnson__1
    sjohnson__1 Posts: 405 Member
    trojan_bb wrote: »
    HIIT 3-4x a week. Even 10 minutes. If you can get a few intervals at a HIGH heart rate (for me, like 160+) you can trigger significant fat loss. I do this fasted first thing in the morning combined with IF where I don't eat till around 12-1 PM.

    Doesn't burn a ton of calories but triggers some fat loss and it's healthy.

    Cosign. HIIT is good stuff. Or even just heavy farmer carries for 5-6 sets of 100m. Great for fat loss and, shoulder building, and grip strength.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Do whatever modality of cardio you prefer based on lifestyle/etc.

    Keep it relatively consistent week to week if you are able to, then just use your rate of weight gain to guide you on energy intake decisions.

    So for example if you play football 3/week and in the first month you gain 1lb and you'd like to increase that, bump your calorie intake up and see what happens over the next 2 week period.

    Take your body-weight and average it out over the week, compare week to week averages.


    Overall point here -- if you can maintain some level of consistency from week to week then just let you change in bodyweight dictate what you do with calorie intake.
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