Cardio lover looking to gain muscle mass

The desire for muscle gain could be negatively affected by the cardio you like to do.

Eating enough to cover both activities obviously important - but also enough recovery from both.

If the cardio prevents you from pushing the muscles as hard as they could be because of being tired - then you aren't overloading by weight during lifting, or not as much as possible - so slower improvements and less need to gain.

If the cardio prevents a good repair/recovery from a good lifting session, and you keep that up - then eventually you don't make as much if any improvement from the lifting as you could otherwise.

So how do you structure your schedule - mainly lower body lifting along with the cardio since it's lower body too?

You are at the point you'll have to do a lot of things right to keep making progress, and depending on how long lifting - it could be very slow anyway.

jangboolee wrote: »

(Body progress pic taken May 27)

I love both cardio (trail running/road running/cycling) and weight lifting (Body building/power lifting/Olympic lifting).
I've been on a quest to maximize my muscle mass, and when I got my body measured yesterday on May 26 via a bio-impedance analyzer, I got the following stats:

• Weight: 72.4 KG
• Muscle mass: 60.0 KG
• Body fat: 8.9 KG
• Body fat percentage: 12.3%

I'm pretty happy with my stats, although I am shooting to get my body fat down to below 10%.

I love long trail runs, but when I do cardio training, I usually do HIIT training.
I also take BCAAs before my cardio workout to minimize muscle breakdown.

I shoot to eat around 2,200 kcal with 40% of my calories coming from my protein.

Is there anything else I should be doing or not doing?

Thanks!

Happy to help you out. List out what you eat exactly in a given day (I know there will be variation). List out the weights, sets and reps used for the following lifts/variations Deadlift/Squat/Bench

jangboolee wrote: »

Hey @Longevity100 ,
Thanks for your offer.

My diary should be public, but in general, I shoot for 2,370kcal a day with 40% protein, 35% fat, and 25% carbs.
(I tend to be more lenient with my carbs on my weight training days)

I looked through your diary, here are my suggestions.

1. Experiment with these macros

Training Days

Carbs: 360g from (Fruits, Oats, Potatoes, Quinoa, Beans, Rices, if you have digestion issues with any of them let me know and I'll tell you how to fix them)

Protein: 180gs mainly from organically farmed grassfed animals. Add lots of variety here
( Beef, Bison, Chicken, Venison, Pork, Chicken, Eggs, Turkey, Quail, Duck, Salmon, Tuna, Shrimp, Cod, Trout, Crab, Lobster, etc) Plant based sources are fine too, beans, nuts, seeds, various planet based powders.

Fat: Whatever comes with the protein, generally speaking, eat leaner meats on these days

Vegetables: 2 handfuls of leafy greens

No Training Days

Carbs: 180g from (Fruits, Oats, Potatoes, Quinoa, Beans, Rices, if you have digestion issues with any of them let me know and I'll tell you how to fix them)

Protein: 250g mainly from organically farmed grassfed animals. Add lots of variety here
( Beef, Bison, Chicken, Venison, Pork, Chicken, Eggs, Turkey, Quail, Duck, Salmon, Tuna, Shrimp, Cod, Trout, Crab, Lobster etc) Plant based sources are fine too, beans, nuts, seeds, various planet based powders.

Fat: Whatever comes with the protein you can have fattier cuts this day

Vegetables: 2 handfuls of leafy greens

jangboolee wrote: »

I'm trying out 1 day of powerlifting movement, 1 day of olympic lifting, and 1 day of body building.
(Maybe I'm trying to do too much and am ending up doing less...? Any input would be appreciated)

<Workout log from my powerlifting day>

Back squats

1. 90kg X 5reps
2. 100kg X 5reps
3. 105kg X 5reps
4. 110kg X 5reps
5. 115kg X 5reps

Overhead press

1. 40kg X 5reps
2. 42.5kg X 5reps
3. 42.5kg X 5reps
4. 40kg X 3reps
5. 35kg X 5reps

Deadlift

1. 130kg X5reps

Accessory lift

1. Dumbell curl and press = 28kg X10reps

<Workout log from my olympic lifting day>

Front squat

1. 50kg X 10reps
2. 70kg X10reps
3. 82.5kg X5reps

Clean

1. 50kg X3reps
2. 60kg X3reps
3. 60kg X3reps
4. 62.5kg X3reps
5. 70kg X3reps

Hang clean

1. 50kg X3reps
2. 50kg X3reps
3. 62.5kg X3reps

Power clean

1. 60kg X3reps
2. 60kg X3reps
3. 65kg X3reps
4. 65kg X3reps
5. 70kg X3reps

And my bodybuilding days are just a collection of accessory lifts, mostly focusing on upper body, with medium weights, 15-20 reps, with most movements ending with a superset with light weights.

A lot of different ways to train to add size and I could say a lot about program design. The core of any successful program has the lifter getting progressively stronger on some form of Dead-lifting, Squatting and Pressing. Unless you're unhappy with your training, no need to change it up. I believe that with the nutrition changes you'll see a significant change in your physique over the next 3-6months following the same routine your on now.

I think there's a typo here. Did someone actually say they love cardio?

My husband is like you. He says he's a weight lifter who runs. When he really gets into the running. He looks more like you. It's just a different look. But he seems to lift more in the winter and cut back on the running and his shoulders seem to get bigger. Lol.

Instead of focusing on gaining weight and being dissappointed, try taking up a skill such as krac maga or kung fu. Once you start doing serious reps, you will not only notice a change in muscle mass, but a change in your outlook of life. Don't underestimate.