Started doing Cardio- I feel its effecting my training.

[Pharaoh]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and just want to say hello. I would like to give everyone some background info about me so it might help you answer my question.

I started weight training when I was 14 years old. The year before I was grossly obese, weighing 221 pounds in the 7th grade. I joined the boys modified football team and lost a ton of weight. after my first season I weighed 146 pounds. I am extremely large boned. Huge wrist, ribcage and joints. At this weight, I looked absolutely horrible. My Football coach was an old lineman for the dallas cowboys during the years of Tom Laundry. He was the one who started me on weight training. For 1 whole year I could not gain more than 6 pounds, no matter how much I ate. I continued to train dilegently and within a little more than 2 years I was up to 188 pounds with 9% bodyfat. I looked awsome 30 inch waist, 47 inch chest. I began to find a love for training and my quest to gain muscle continued. by the age of 21 I was 232 pounds with 14% bodyfat. At this time I began to train with 2 pro bodybuilders, 2 bodybuilders that competed in the npc and 3 natural pro's. I picked their brains for awhile and when I turned 22 I began a diet that would help me gain tremendous size and strength. I began to train under a world strongman competetor and did a bulgarian style training along with 6300 cals per day. I shot up to 263 pounds in 9 months! I was 17% bodyfat. I gained over 30 pounds and only 3% bodyfat. In september of that year, my best freind was having his wedding. I was asked to be the best man, so i wanted to be in the best shape of my life. I began to diet down, slowly cutting calories and carbs. After 6 months of good dieting I was down to 228 with 11% bodyfat. My suit was a 57" chest 31.5 inch waist 33 inch hips. I looked like a cyclone.

Then my life changed. I started my own company and didnt have time to train anymore. After 2 years without training, i did not look bad at all. then i turned 25. i noticed that my waist was 36" After another year I moved out of state to be with my girlfreind and have been here the last 3 years. Last year I had a horrible thoracic sprain that put me out of work for 6 month , twisted a vertibrae in my back and also twisted one of my ribs out of place. After this injury healed, I decided to take my life back and start training. Both i and my girlfreind decided to do this together.

When i stepped on the scale and took my measurements, I almost cried. I was 268 pounds, a 47 inch waist and a 54.5 inch chest. How could i have let myself get this out of shape. And since I have been on a journey that has been 22 weeks so far. I have been eating extremely clean. My goal was to lose fat but keep alot of muscle. It Has been very hard to do. I eat from different protien sources, take amino acids and eat a low to moderate carb count.

In the last 22 weeks I have went from 268 pounds down to 224 pounds
My bodyfat at start was 33%, it is now 19%
My waist was 47" now its down to 36.5
Up until last week I was doing no cardio because I have been losing weight on average of about 2 pounds per week. The last 3 weeks I have only lost a pound per week on average.

Up until this time, I have only lost 2 inches on my chest and a 1/2 inch on my arms. So I was happy to see that I was still keeping some decent upper body size for losing 44 pounds.

Now here is the problem...... last week i incorporated 3x a week cardio session on the eliptical for 35 min To get things rolling again. The next day it feels like I was hit by a train and i feel it is effecting my workouts. On my Big lift days, i get no pumps. My energy is up good, but my muscles stay hard, they dont balloon out like I like them to. Is this to be expected from doing cardio?

I am affraid that I am going to lose alot of size now. And now that Im down to 224....I see that i dont look like what I looked like in my early 20's at 224 It almost looks like im going to have to get down to around 194- 198 to get into really good shape. The problem with that is that I hate to be small. My body can accomidate for size, easily.

I am so worried, i am contimplating taking a cycle to keep good size. Would u guys suggest that I get down to lean as i can first and then do a bulk cycle or do a cycle now to keep me from getting small.

This will be my first cycle ever. I am 30 years old.
I am sorry this post is so long, but i need some advice.

[zidane9979]

Welcome to the board bro, and I say do cardio after your work outs and keep you diet clean and you will be fine, try to get you bf under 15 before cycling, I know your worried about losing size but it will be better mass once you get below 15 so keep up the hard work and maybe look into Ketosis as a diet..

[admin]

Welcome to the board buddy.
Great post.
One thing you did not mention, what kind of intensity are you at, on the eliptical. From what you say, it sounds like you are really pushing it. All you need is a mild pace, 65-70% of your max HR to burn fat.

[Pharaoh]

Thank you both for your input. Admin, I am pushing it probally a bit too much. my heart rate is 159 bpm. I notice it goes down considerably when my hands are not on the moving handles. My heart rate goes down to about 138 bpm. Do I have to hold on to those moving handles? The reason why I ask is because , I have dropped alot of weight this last week since starting cardio. To be truthful i am suprised And a bit concerned. What promted me to add cardio into my training was that I had been stuck at 231 pounds for 3 weeks on the diet alone. From week 1 to week 20 I averaged out about 2 pounds per week. But week # 20, 21, and 22 I stayed at 231.And now in this week ALONE im down From 231 to 223.6. To me 8 pounds sounds crazy in 1 week. Thanks admin, I will try not to pound it so hard.

And thank you also zidane....I am definately planning on getting Very lean before a cycle.

By the way, when I do get between 7-9% bodyfat, how much fat will a cycle make me gain? I definately wont want to be over 11 or 12%
when im done. Are there really good cycles that will help me make huge size gains but allow me to keep my bodyfat in the single digits?

[admin]

You don't have to hold the handles, HR around 125 bpm will be fine, and you will burn fat. Can atleast start there, and down the road do intervals, 1min slow, 1 min fast, etc.

You don't have to gain any fat on a cycle. Bodybuilders use steroids while dieting for competitions, up to the day of.

You just have to watch your diet. Eat clean, you can put on size, with minimal fat gain. Eat dirty, you will put on fat, and water, and feel bloated all the time.

[Under-Radar]

Welcome brother. first i agree with admin. 125 max for cardio. slow and long are the keys to just burning fat. or you could do long walks. just wear a heart monitor on wrist or around chest. Here is what i suggest when it comes to cardio.

DOs' AND DOnts'

Do do cardio on an empty stomach in the am.....

1- benefits........if done on empty stomach you burns fat very well. Just be sure that if you feel the need to eat or hungry feeling. then take down a whey protein shake. the key to this is fat burning and if you take in carbohydrates. then you have defeated the purpose. This does not apply to those who are diabetics. For those who are diabeti then seek advise from your dietician...............
2- if you separate it from am/cardio and pm workout you get the best of both worlds and not tire yourself out so quickly especially if your schedule is a busy one.............
3- doing cardio right after a workout is also a very popular one since the body glycogen storage has been depleted and the only thing left would be fat burning..........

DONTS.........

1- NEVER DO CARDIO BEFORE A WORKOUT. I f you are trying to build muscle and loos fat. then this would hender your gain and defeat the purpose for building muscle. In other words dispite what folks may say and do . Your body need at least 50grams of carbohydrates to get through a complete workout. This can range from simple sugars to low glycemic sugar (carbs).. hense oatmeal, yams, wild 100% wholegrain rice you get the idea as this type of carb would be ideal for most. As stated before if you are a diabetic you need to check with your dietician as diabetic needs are different from others.
2- Also if your goal is to burn fat and gain muscle. then you need to keep your H.R (heart rate) to about 125-130 no more no less. anything more and you start to work the cardiovascular system. anything less and the fat burning will not be as sufficient. remember less intensity and longer duration is ideal for fat burning when doing cardio...............

[powerman]

MOst pros and doc recommend to try and shoot for 2-3 #s a week for weight loss...You were doing that..You may need to tweak the diet a bit..Also i find it best to do cardio immediately following my liftin routine..Agree with th other guys 125 heart rate is good for burning fat..Heres another option do cardio on non lifting days as soon as you wake up...You can take a protein only drink if you like before but no carbs and i always load up on the BCAAs as soon as i wake up to get out of the catabolic state..Also take them before training and after and just before bed.I usually take 5 grams a serving of BCAAs