Should You Do Cardio When Bulking?

If you are bulking should you incorporate cardio into your workout plan?  It depends.  It depends on a lot of things.  You should take into account your metabolism.  If you have a very fast metabolism and it’s hard for you to put on weight to begin with then you should probably steer clear of cardio, or at least limit it to cycling, and avoid the elliptical and running.

Another thing to take into consideration is your job.  Are you on your feet all day and moving around a lot or are you sitting at a desk most of the day?  If you have a pretty sedentary job then you may want to consider adding some cardio in.  As your body needs some cardio throughout the day (even if it’s just vigorous walking).

For me I have a high metabolism and have a job where I am on my feet all day and constantly on the move, so I steer clear of cardio when bulking.  It’s counterproductive to me and burns too many calories.  I get enough movement in at my job.

Remember it’s all a math game.  You want to be eating as if you weighed your target rate, and you want to not burn more calories than you are consuming.  Also don’t be afraid if you lose your six pack when bulking this is normal.  It’s going to happen (I know it sucks), but when you finish bulking and start cutting it will come right back.

And one more thing.  Just because you’re bulking this is not a free ticket to eat whatever you want.  If anything you should be even more concerned with what you eat.  Yes you have to pack on the calories, and yes your diet is going to be different but it should still be clean.  If you need 4,000 calories a day that doesn’t mean some pizzas, oreos, and big macs are on the menus.  Eat clean even when you are bulking.