I am trying to add more cardio to my routine, but don't want to wreck my mass gains at the gym. I workout out around 5 in the afternoon everyday, when should I do my cardio. Some say before workouts but then I feel like I dont get as good of workout, others say after but I feel like Im thrashing my gains. When should I do cardio, for how long to burn fat, and how many days a week?

I would also like to know this answer.

Your body is already burning calories from a hard core workout so adding ten or fifteen minutes of cardio afterwards is a good addition. BCAAs are essential though throughout your workout to keep from going catabolic. I do this along with a 20-30 minute run on off days twice a week, with BCAAs once again. Works for me to keep fat off and still make gains.

cardio early in the day before a working can decrease your strength later on, i like to run before bed and i dont notice any muscle loss. its more of keeping my metabolism going fast while i sleep for me and it helps.

Originally Posted by ward0351

Your body is already burning calories from a hard core workout so adding ten or fifteen minutes of cardio afterwards is a good addition. BCAAs are essential though throughout your workout to keep from going catabolic. I do this along with a 20-30 minute run on off days twice a week, with BCAAs once again. Works for me to keep fat off and still make gains.

your already warmed up and stretched ur muscles are loose from working out. If you been going hard enough ur heart rate is there do a 10-15 minute run and really push the mph (if on a treadmill) and incline etc.. and try to just burn a damn good amount of calories...If at the end of the day you think you burned too many eat an extra meal

Should I drink a BCAA supp while working out??? Any suggestions?

yes, xtend tastes good and the 90 servings jug is a good deal. NP is having a sale on it right now that ends at midnight.

i've heard slamming a protein shake and doing cardio right away in the morning is best. works for me.

cario KILLS my gains....unless I add more calories, which is hardly possible consider I eat every 2 hours and stuff myself to the brim. So, when I do cardio, I add it to the end of the workout. I feel like it doesn't shock the body as much or disturb your metabolism as much. If you are looking to loose weight, cardio on seperate days that would otherwise be your rest/repair time would be the most effective. If you are just trying to maintain weight and get in better shape I would do cardio after a workout.

Yeah i would have to say after lifting is best. I do about 60-90min of lifting and 20min light to moderate cardio 4-5 days a week and I've gotten pretty toned while gaining mass. If i did less cardio i would probably see better gains but i like to burn off my preworkout before going home lol

You'll have to try out different things to see what'll work for you. All sound advice thus far. What works for me is, 10- 15 minutes of low int. cardio post-wo and HIIT on off days.

Best of luck with your goals.
Jim

Anyone that says moderate cardio kills gains is either very ignorant on the subject or just very dramatic. Moderate cardio expends roughly 10-12kcals/min; so, 20 minutes is somewhere between 200-240kcals. That's such a, relatively, small amount of caloric expenditure and is roughly the amount of kcals in 2 oz of cheese.

i have to ride my bike to get around, so usually about 4 miles to gym then back home, iv'e been making gains, and its hard for me to put on fat, maybe my muscle gains would come faster if i didnt ride my bike as much but i doubt it, and it makes more sense to stay lean and all around healthier, also i believe it helps nutrient partioning

cardio also increases amino acid uptake in muscles, enhances recovery. if u are bulking, cardio twice a week will help with recovery and you will actually gain more strength. real talk.

Originally Posted by neverstop

i've heard slamming a protein shake and doing cardio right away in the morning is best. works for me.

This is all fine and dandy, but now you have a protein shake to burn up before you get to your fat.

BCAA's and an empty stomach first thing in the morning seems to work best for myself. I just don't go too intense for too long.

Plus, if you are trying to lean bulk, fasted cardio in the AM increases your metabolism making you feel more hungry more often, so you'll wanna eat every 2-3 hours.

Fasted cardio with aminos is where its at. I lost a belt size exremely quick in this manner, with no muscle loss of course.

are you talking about killing mass gains? because if you are bulking you can probably afford to take 4-8 weeks off cardio. Otherwise you just have to eat as many more calories as you burned doing cardio. But if you are trying to do the cardio to burn fat while gaining muscle, I can just say good luck, as it may or may not work out

Originally Posted by Rodja

Anyone that says moderate cardio kills gains is either very ignorant on the subject or just very dramatic. Moderate cardio expends roughly 10-12kcals/min; so, 20 minutes is somewhere between 200-240kcals. That's such a, relatively, small amount of caloric expenditure and is roughly the amount of kcals in 2 oz of cheese.

yeah, i have to agree, i train for pure strength, and i don't notice much when doing some light cardio.

well whatever guys, in my experience, when I do cardio for 30mins 4x week (running about 2-2.5miles), I notice my energy levels are down in the gym. I don't necessarily loose muscle mass on the scale, but I feel depleted, especially if its anytime during the day of my workout. This ultimately leads to loss of strength = loss of muscle mass over time. However, if I increase my carbs it seems to counteract the effect.

Do abs, lunges, and push ups consecutively for cardio. It will burn waaay more cals than a treadmill, bike or elliptical.

Originally Posted by monsterbox

well whatever guys, in my experience, when I do cardio for 30mins 4x week (running about 2-2.5miles), I notice my energy levels are down in the gym. I don't necessarily loose muscle mass on the scale, but I feel depleted, especially if its anytime during the day of my workout. This ultimately leads to loss of strength = loss of muscle mass over time. However, if I increase my carbs it seems to counteract the effect.

Running is not light cardio. I don't know anyone who runs whose sole mission is muscle mass.

Low intensity cardio should not hinder gains,... the only disadvantage is you have to do more of it if you want to see any sort of "fat loss." But then again, if your diet is clean, and you are not eating like a pig, (meaning unbelievable amounts of bad calories) you shouldn't have to do an irrational amount of cardio in the first place.