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View Full Version : Off Season Cardio..Do you do it?



AVBG
11-24-2009, 03:04 PM
Who does Off Season Cardio?

Why do you do it?

Is it worth doing?

AVBG
11-24-2009, 03:08 PM
I don't do off season cardio.. My reasoning is that I don't want the cardio to lose it's effectiveness once I am under way in precontest diet mode.

flaccid_member
11-24-2009, 03:14 PM
Who does Off Season Cardio?

Why do you do it?

Is it worth doing?

Maintenance cardio is cool. I usually let my diet dictate my off-season. Simply put, I eat fairly clean in the off-season because I like the way I look and feel as a result.

I believe in sprinting because it's cold now here in the northeast and it agrees with my schedule. Once I start prepping for a show, I'll mix it up to keep from getting bored and to keep my body guessing.

Cardio is definitely worth doing, but time and duration are based on the individual's needs and goals. To me, it's easier to just watch what I eat.

Ninja Loco
11-24-2009, 03:33 PM
I minimize it to once a week.

D-Freak
11-24-2009, 04:18 PM
I do it 3x a week 30 min, LOW intensity. Keep metabolism rolling, heart healthy (Hearts a muscle to ;)) and to stay somewhat lean.

Team Franco
11-24-2009, 04:53 PM
2 x at 30 min clips, but light. I also do a 10 min cooldown after each workout. Again light and low HR.

ironwarrior22
11-24-2009, 05:18 PM
I do it because I believe that to put on the most amount of muscle you must be in a very healthy state and thus cardio is very important, I do decrease it considerably however.

Ryan Wacht
11-24-2009, 06:04 PM
I believe that off season cardio benefits your member.

Youngguns
11-24-2009, 06:06 PM
I minimize it to once a week.
I thought you weren't a bodybuilder?

I guess all ninjas have on/ off seasons and take shirtless pics of them in the gym...






That being said, NEIN to offseason cardio.

nutratroy
11-24-2009, 09:37 PM
LOL, yes...cuz I'm a fat ass...LOL, well use to be anyways!

GENESIS
11-24-2009, 09:39 PM
No. cardio is boring.

Cressler
11-25-2009, 03:24 AM
yes, cause it support the faster regeneration and help to eat more :D

NATURAL-1987
11-25-2009, 08:53 AM
I do minimum 3 days/ week for 30 minutes. Helps me from putting too much fat on and helps my heart stay healthy at a heavier weight. Eveyone should do this much in my opinion.

mr intensity
11-25-2009, 09:13 AM
cardio 45 mins eod ..... it helps with 2 things 1. keeps me leaner


2. increases my apetite ..... earlier when i was not doing cardio on during my offseason i had problems with my apetite...... now with cardio its like i am starving the whole day........

i am hungry after every two hours and the first thing i do is i gulp down a huge serving of protien(75 grams of protien).......... then just to curb my hunger pangs i`ll take in some carbs ( 50 grams or 20 grams of fat or both)

tight booty
11-25-2009, 09:27 AM
I don't do off season cardio.. My reasoning is that I don't want the cardio to lose it's effectiveness once I am under way in precontest diet mode.
Yes I do it, but obviously not as much or as often as I would when I am prepping. I definitely agree with you AVBG in that you don't want cardio to be less effective when you start your prep.

bodimajestik
11-25-2009, 10:02 AM
Once a week...anything above will reduce the muscle gains

Blakryno
11-25-2009, 09:27 PM
I like my heart. Dr. sez my resting heart rate is 78 over 58. So yeah, cardio at least 3 x a week 30 mins at a clip. Stairmill or treadmill inclined all the way up. Plus, I'm a EATER. I eat ALOT. I try to stay clean 70% of the time but when I diet, I does it HARD, egg whites and tuna all day hard. So I enjoy food when I can. That means cardio off season for me.

fatbackgoal
11-26-2009, 01:51 PM
Until I get down to my proper offseason weight I will always do cardio. I was doing 2 hours a day but I think I will cut back and do some HIIT mixed with low intensity stuff.

AVBG
11-26-2009, 03:15 PM
I think I'd be mixing it up in terms of intensity/protocol if I were doing it year round.

juiceinator3000
12-01-2009, 10:47 AM
I don't do off season cardio.. My reasoning is that I don't want the cardio to lose it's effectiveness once I am under way in precontest diet mode.

i agree with this. i don't know if it's because i mentally believe it to be true, or because i don't feel i need to in the offseason. regardless, i don't do it, partially because im lazy and partially because ive deemed myself too young to start caring about my heart. i lift for a reason, and it's not to be healthy right now.

bodimajestik
12-02-2009, 04:36 AM
Who does Off Season Cardio?

Why do you do it?

Is it worth doing?

A guy who does cardio in off season will have a less hard time cutting on fat because to him it will be just another 15 minutes on a treadmill. But a guy who never does cardio in off season will face more difficulties in doing long cardio sessions when preparing for a show, plus it will be monotonous for him.

Also doing cardio 2-3 times a week, moderate base in off season will make you lift more and will help you digest the amount of food that you eat in off season. Of course there are other benefits like you will appear lean rather then fat blob...

fltallpaul
12-02-2009, 10:48 AM
I don't do off season cardio.. My reasoning is that I don't want the cardio to lose it's effectiveness once I am under way in precontest diet mode.

I never did off season cardio until this past off season because I believed as you do. However this year I did cardio year round. I only did 20 minute sessions post workout and with BCAA's in surplus. When I started my cardio for contest mode I found I actually did less than the previous prep while also having a higher caloric intake, mostly from carbs.

I plan on doing the same thing this year as year round cardio and a diet higher in calories has actually helped boost my metabolism year round.

DAVIDHARDY
12-02-2009, 12:10 PM
Trying it this year. I'm doing 3-4 20-30 min sessions a week. Going to see if I can keep some fat off and I've heard that it's beneficial for muscle growth, because it enhances blood flow. Makes sense to me, so I'm giving it a shot. I never did think about it that way before, but it really does make a lot of sense to me. Like Paul said, I think that it will keep my metabolism up and I'll have to actually do less cardio than last year when I start prepping. I think that the reason is two fold: the metabolism benefit being one reason and the other being the fact that you have not put on as much fat. Only time will tell how it works for me, but I'm very optimistic about including cardio in my off season this year.

TigerUpperCut
12-05-2009, 01:35 AM
yes but not a lot

Joshua H
12-06-2009, 03:42 PM
2x a week via 30 mins of HIIT treadmill sprints. Just 20 actual minutes worth of intervals mind you. Keeps me far more hungry during my off days and I like how much more energy I have from the cardio benefits.

AVBG
12-06-2009, 06:16 PM
Trying it this year. I'm doing 3-4 20-30 min sessions a week. Going to see if I can keep some fat off and I've heard that it's beneficial for muscle growth, because it enhances blood flow. Makes sense to me, so I'm giving it a shot. I never did think about it that way before, but it really does make a lot of sense to me. Like Paul said, I think that it will keep my metabolism up and I'll have to actually do less cardio than last year when I start prepping. I think that the reason is two fold: the metabolism benefit being one reason and the other being the fact that you have not put on as much fat. Only time will tell how it works for me, but I'm very optimistic about including cardio in my off season this year.

I think (just my opinion) that too many competitors get a bit too lax in their eating in the off season in terms of frequency of their meals and as a result that's where their metabolism slows down.

blitz
12-08-2009, 03:07 PM
i do cardio because:

1-i love my heart, i want ot live old.

2-my metabolism is slow, i can eat all i want when i do cardio, i can feel that my body temperature increase the day i do cardio, my appetite increase too.

3-i run 30 minutes 1 or 2 time a week during off season.
20 min warmup then 10 minute as fast as i can.

4- in 2005 prior to my admission in police school, i do a little bulk period with cardio, i started at 112 kilos, after 3 month of "bulk" and cardio, what a surprise when at the end i saw i weighed 107 kg, leaner, stronger, bigger and healthier.

So i think a little cardio is good.

blitz
12-08-2009, 03:12 PM
i agree with this. i don't know if it's because i mentally believe it to be true, or because i don't feel i need to in the offseason. regardless, i don't do it, partially because im lazy and partially because ive deemed myself too young to start caring about my heart. i lift for a reason, and it's not to be healthy right now.


off season cardio wont make you lose the benefit for pre-contest season, on the contrary, cardio show to your body how to burn fat via certain type of muscle fiber type, which are more efficient in cardio-trained athlete.

i read a study about that years ago.

bodyhard
12-09-2009, 09:55 PM
I don't do any cardio in the off season. I am naturally thin (an ecto) and too much cardio for me is a no no, especially when I am trying to gain mass as I do in the offseason.

TigerUpperCut
12-14-2009, 10:12 PM
i do it because it increases my appetite

tony63
12-18-2009, 09:06 AM
I do not perform cardio during the off season, and I do very little during prep. I use diet to get myself down.

IMO performing cardio dimishes the bodybuilders ability to recover.

The reason many BB'ers have to perform so much cardio is they allow themselves to gain too much weight in the off season.

DAVIDHARDY
12-18-2009, 09:23 AM
I do not perform cardio during the off season, and I do very little during prep. I use diet to get myself down.

IMO performing cardio dimishes the bodybuilders ability to recover.

The reason many BB'ers have to perform so much cardio is they allow themselves to gain too much weight in the off season.


How would increasing your blood flow decrease your ability to recover?

tony63
12-18-2009, 09:57 AM
How would increasing your blood flow decrease your ability to recover?

If you've just finished working out, you already HAVE blood flow. You do not really need more. Adding cardio simply gives a persons body too much to do. Making it over perform.

For me it is about knowing when enough is enough. Too much cardio can leave you flat looking or even bloated. Your muscles can lose the round full look they should have. A look that many believe is due to an improper carb load, or water retaining issue. Which to some extent it could be, but not always.

My view has simply been from trail and error. When my diet is on, I have a harder-leaner look performing less cardio.

Cardio is over-rated because many people haven't truly got their diets figured out. I am not saying that a person shouldn't do cardio, because some need to if they get behind in prep.

Last year a figure competitor came to me about 6 weeks out from a show. She had a prep coach, but had stalled in her progress and they could not figure out what her problem was.
Her training looked great, and her diet was dead on. However, she was performing cardio 7 days a week for almost an hour at a time, and had been doing so for 4 weeks already.
My suggestion was to cut her cardio in half. Although apprehensive about doing so, she did. Within 3-4 days she not only leaned out, but acheived a really hard look. She had performed so much cardio that she was holding a ton of water. Her system was fighting her tooth and nail.

This is just something that works for me. I am not saying it would work for everyone else.....:)

bodimajestik
12-18-2009, 10:13 AM
If you've just finished working out, you already HAVE blood flow. You do not really need more. Adding cardio simply gives a persons body too much to do. Making it over perform.

For me it is about knowing when enough is enough. Too much cardio can leave you flat looking or even bloated. Your muscles can lose the round full look they should have. A look that many believe is due to an improper carb load, or water retaining issue. Which to some extent it could be, but not always.

My view has simply been from trail and error. When my diet is on, I have a harder-leaner look performing less cardio.

Cardio is over-rated because many people haven't truly got their diets figured out. I am not saying that a person shouldn't do cardio, because some need to if they get behind in prep.

Last year a figure competitor came to me about 6 weeks out from a show. She had a prep coach, but had stalled in her progress and they could not figure out what her problem was.
Her training looked great, and her diet was dead on. However, she was performing cardio 7 days a week for almost an hour at a time, and had been doing so for 4 weeks already.
My suggestion was to cut her cardio in half. Although apprehensive about doing so, she did. Within 3-4 days she not only leaned out, but acheived a really hard look. She had performed so much cardio that she was holding a ton of water. Her system was fighting her tooth and nail.

This is just something that works for me. I am not saying it would work for everyone else.....:)


Agreed, that is what I've been trying to say earlier......Overdoing cardio will make you look fat. Also people doing longer cardio sessions is simply due to the fact that they put on unnecessary fat in the off season trying to be big. If they have had a good diet plan thorughout the year, they might have not required so much cardio......
Milos Sarcev is the perfect example of that.....

bbdude1988
01-16-2010, 12:23 AM
i agree with this. i don't know if it's because i mentally believe it to be true, or because i don't feel i need to in the offseason. regardless, i don't do it, partially because im lazy and partially because ive deemed myself too young to start caring about my heart. i lift for a reason, and it's not to be healthy right now.

I believe that if a person lifts like a bodybuilder (approx 1 min rests) rather than a powerlifter (more than 1 min), they will get a decent cardio workout from simply lifting weights. I don't do cardio in the off season for this reason, and also for the reason posted by the OP

powergraham
01-16-2010, 03:28 PM
I believe that if a person lifts like a bodybuilder (approx 1 min rests) rather than a powerlifter (more than 1 min), they will get a decent cardio workout from simply lifting weights. I don't do cardio in the off season for this reason, and also for the reason posted by the OP

Fair enough, but what if your doing that extra cardio for another reason ?

When I get into my off season, probably 6 months off, I will be fitting cardio in where I can. I have a slow metabolism for my age group and size, and as such, my body fat % is way to high at the moment, so I'm bringing that down at the moment with good diet, and starting to bring cardio in to the mix as well.

The main reason I will be doing cardio in the off season, is to make sure I keep at a decent weight. My diet is 100% of what I look like. I have no problem putting muscle on, or keeping it on, but making it look good has always been the tricky part for me. So, in order for me to maybes enjoy that off season a bit more, 30 minutes of morning fasted cardio will not hurt, but will infact make my body and prep much better.

AVBG
01-16-2010, 04:04 PM
Fair enough, but what if your doing that extra cardio for another reason ?

When I get into my off season, probably 6 months off, I will be fitting cardio in where I can. I have a slow metabolism for my age group and size, and as such, my body fat % is way to high at the moment, so I'm bringing that down at the moment with good diet, and starting to bring cardio in to the mix as well.

The main reason I will be doing cardio in the off season, is to make sure I keep at a decent weight. My diet is 100% of what I look like. I have no problem putting muscle on, or keeping it on, but making it look good has always been the tricky part for me. So, in order for me to maybes enjoy that off season a bit more, 30 minutes of morning fasted cardio will not hurt, but will infact make my body and prep much better.

this is where I would suggest the hiit style of cardio. If you're serious about heart health and general health do the real stuff rather than the purly long low intensity recommended for fat loss

powergraham
01-17-2010, 11:57 AM
this is where I would suggest the hiit style of cardio. If you're serious about heart health and general health do the real stuff rather than the purly long low intensity recommended for fat loss

I generally mix it up and do both. I can't do hiit on an empty stomach, it makes me dizzy, but, say I've got 20 mins spare after a workout, and I've got a shake with me, I'll usually hit the elliptical and go nuts, just to burn it hard.

Just for general health, I usually suprise people with what I can do, I mean, I sit at roughly 230ish at the mo (I'm fluctuating between 16 and 17 stone while I really get solid on my diet), but I can move at some pace, I can run for quite a while, I use to play rugby quite often, and that is propbably the biggest test of cardio you will ever do, a mixture of running full sprint, and utilising all your muscles is a ridiculous drain on the body.

But, like I say, I'm no where near off season, I'm not in contest prep style, I'm just doing my best to drop the fat off me, so when I want to compete, I'm not going to leave myself in the dark for prep, and currently, I really need to get into the habit of more cardio.