Many bodybuilding enthusiasts find cardio workouts boring and ultimately quit their bodybuilding routine after a while. It is important to know that there are plenty of days for bodybuilders who are persistent with their routines and stick with them. Cardio can help to tone muscle mass, so it is always a good idea to include cardio in your weight lifting routine if you can spare the time, but for bodybuilders looking to bulk up, cardio must be done with maximum effort to see optimum results.1
For those bodybuilders who need to see quick results and have a workout plan already in place, there is no reason to stop there. The key to building muscle mass and burning fat is to maintain your cardio routine, but add in some weight training as well to get even more out of the cardio routine. It takes more than just cardio to build strong muscles; if your bodybuilding routine is missing any kind of heavy lifting in it then your body will not have the time or energy to develop accordingly.2
For bodybuilding beginners who want to cut down on their cardio routine, a good place to start is by keeping a written bodybuilding routine list on hand that they can refer to at any time to see what exercises to do and what exercises to avoid. A good workout is the only way to go if you are serious about developing solid, chiseled muscles. Without the hard work and dedication to a solid bodybuilding routine, you can expect to hit the gym a couple times a week with maybe a little bit of cardio in between, and still not see the results you desire.3
What is a Cardio Day For Bodybuilders?
In bodybuilding cardio day routines, many athletes (including many “experts”) talk about how you need to train differently than you do other muscle groups in your body. If you are a bodybuilder, your most important cardio routine should be your low-intensity interval cardio, done two to three times a week, one to two hours apart.4 As far as what is NOT to do, there is not much. If you have never done any cardio before, it is best to start with a thirty minute session so that you can get used to the technique and breathing patterns associated with cardio before moving on to longer periods of exercise. There are no tricks or secrets to bodybuilding cardio, just the basics and they apply to all forms of cardio.
So, what is a cardio day (or even a weekly routine) for a bodybuilder? The best workouts for building muscle are short bursts of high intensity exercise, performed at least three times a week, lasting between ten and twenty minutes. These short sessions are extremely effective for building much muscle in a short period of time. When you are performing these exercises, try to focus mainly on your heart rate, breathing patterns, and your ability to control your body movements during the workout as well. By learning to breathe deeply and fully, you will find yourself burning more calories and building more muscle much quicker. As far as diets go, simply eat enough calories for your daily requirements and remember that healthy eating should be at the forefront of your mind when exercising, even if it means increasing your calorie intake slightly.5
The Benefits of a Cardio Day For Bodybuilders
A cardio day is very important for bodybuilders, especially during a bodybuilding routine. This is because doing cardio workouts causes your body to lose fat and as a result you’ll also gain lean muscle mass. Cardio workouts are extremely effective when it comes to improving your body’s metabolism. This in turn will enable you to burn off fat that is stored in your body. In addition to improving your metabolism through cardio workouts, the bodybuilding cardio day plan will also make sure that your other training programs are maximized.6
A bodybuilding cardio day plan is something that you should do every single week. This includes workouts such as jogging, walking, riding a bicycle and swimming. All these exercises help to burn calories and as a result your body fat will start to fall away.
Another benefit of cardio workouts is that they help to increase your overall stamina. This is because during your cardio workouts you’re constantly stimulating your cardiovascular system.7 As a result of this stimulation your bodybuilding cardio day plan should include plenty of cardio workouts. However, it’s important that you don’t do your cardio workouts for too long. You shouldn’t be doing your cardio workouts for more than a couple of hours a day, but ideally you should be doing them for around half an hour.
Some bodybuilders choose to do their cardio workouts in a different way. If you’re a professional bodybuilder then you may find that it’s beneficial to focus on building muscle while you’re doing your cardio workout. This is because it can actually be much easier to gain muscle while you’re cardio exercising than it would be if you tried to gain muscle while you were at rest. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in doing then I recommend that you check out some of the many bodybuilding cardio routines available on the internet.
As you can probably tell by now, the benefits of a cardio day for bodybuilders are great. But remember that it’s important that a bodybuilder start off slow and make sure that he or she is using proper form when performing the routine. In the end a bodybuilder must remember that it’s not the cardio that’s going to build the muscle, it’s the strength that’s going to do it. So a bodybuilder must take care to do the right exercises and listen to their body to ensure the best results possible.
How Much Cardio Should Bodybuilders Do?
How much cardio should bodybuilders do? This is probably one of the biggest questions bodybuilding enthusiasts everywhere are asking. After all, cardio is such a necessary component of building muscle, isn’t it? Well, the answer is yes and no. It depends on what your goals are.8
Cardio workouts are great at increasing your metabolism (your body’s furnace). Your body needs calories to build muscle and if you are cutting calories while exercising, your body won’t be able to replace those calories. This is where your diet comes into play. If you are trying to cut weight, then your cardio workouts are useless. On the other hand, if you are looking to increase your muscle mass, you have to ensure that you are consuming enough calories to support your goal.
The amount of cardio one should do really depends on your goal. If your primary goal is to gain more muscle mass, you don’t need to be burning off massive amounts of calories. All you have to do is maintain a steady pace.9 As your muscle mass increases, your workout routine should require you to push yourself further. This is where cardiovascular training comes into play.
How to Get the Best Results with Cardio?
When it comes to doing cardio, the best way to ensure you get optimal results is to do cardiovascular training before every workout. Cardiovascular training is the best way to increase your metabolism and it also provides the best fat burning results possible. In order to get optimal fat burning results from cardiovascular training, it is best to do cardiovascular training on an empty stomach. For best results, you should try to do cardiovascular training no more than 45 minutes prior to your workout.
Cardio helps bodybuilders build their endurance but it does not necessarily build muscle mass or reduce body fat percentage. The best way to maximize results is by doing cardio at least three times a week with an increased amount of intensity. The increased amount of intensity cardio can help improve bodybuilders’ endurance and build lean muscle mass. It is also important for bodybuilders to remember that all forms of cardio are beneficial to the bodybuilder as long as it is performed properly.
Image Credits
Anabolic Bodies / 2021
Slideshare.net / July 31, 2015
CDC / October 7, 2020
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3 “Bodybuilding | A Complete Guide – Men’s Health.” 6 Apr. 2019, https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/a759236/complete-guide-to-bodybuilding/ Accessed 28 Jun. 2021.
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7 “The (Many) Benefits of a Cardio Workout – Health Essentials from ….” 22 Sep. 2020, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/the-many-benefits-of-a-cardio-workout/ Accessed 28 Jun. 2021.
8 “Cardiovascular Fitness and How to Test It – Verywell Fit.” https://www.verywellfit.com/cardiovascular-fitness-1230820 Accessed 28 Jun. 2021.
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