Am I doing too much cardio to gain muscle?

[JLat86]

I'm 23, 6'4", 175lbs. I'm thin. I lift weights usually 5 days a week. Most of those days I like to do some cardio, usually only about 20 minutes, burning 200-300 calories. The cardio makes me feel good and sleep better. I need to eat over 3000 calories a day to maintain or gain weight. If I meet that goal, will I necessarily grow muscle? or am I overtraining, either with lifting or cardio?

 

I just read an article saying skinny guys should be careful about overtraining.

[Guest]

I'm 23, 6'4", 175lbs. I'm thin. I lift weights usually 5 days a week. Most of those days I like to do some cardio, usually only about 20 minutes, burning 200-300 calories. The cardio makes me feel good and sleep better. I need to eat over 3000 calories a day to maintain or gain weight. If I meet that goal, will I necessarily grow muscle? or am I overtraining, either with lifting or cardio?

 

Nutrition-wise, if you're slowly gaining weight and increasing strenght in the gym - it's all good. But training 5 times/week and doing cardio sounds like overkill to me. Especially for a newbie lifter. If I were you, I'd stick to 3 weekly lifting sessions (moderate volume, high-intensity usually works best for naturally skinny ectomorph-types) and only do cardio if bodyweight is going up, strenght is going up and if I absolutely LOVE doing it, which is rarely the case with most weightlifters

 

All forms of cardio have their own pros and cons and can be incorporated into a sensible lifting program to keep fat-gain at bay (although not eating way too much works just as well), raise one's VO2 max, increase work capacity, etc., but, again, I wouldn't worry about that kind of thing just now. Lift heavy, eat plenty, rest plenty, repeat. Get the fundamentals down first, worry about minutiae later.

 

Good luck!

[JLat86]

I'm 23, 6'4", 175lbs. I'm thin. I lift weights usually 5 days a week. Most of those days I like to do some cardio, usually only about 20 minutes, burning 200-300 calories. The cardio makes me feel good and sleep better. I need to eat over 3000 calories a day to maintain or gain weight. If I meet that goal, will I necessarily grow muscle? or am I overtraining, either with lifting or cardio?

 

Nutrition-wise, if you're slowly gaining weight and increasing strenght in the gym - it's all good. But training 5 times/week and doing cardio sounds like overkill to me. Especially for a newbie lifter. If I were you, I'd stick to 3 weekly lifting sessions (moderate volume, high-intensity usually works best for naturally skinny ectomorph-types) and only do cardio if bodyweight is going up, strenght is going up and if I absolutely LOVE doing it, which is rarely the case with most weightlifters

 

All forms of cardio have their own pros and cons and can be incorporated into a sensible lifting program to keep fat-gain at bay (although not eating way too much works just as well), raise one's VO2 max, increase work capacity, etc., but, again, I wouldn't worry about that kind of thing just now. Lift heavy, eat plenty, rest plenty, repeat. Get the fundamentals down first, worry about minutiae later.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll tone things down a bit. Is it okay to 5 times a week though if I'm just focussing on one or two muscle groups per day?

[Guest]

Is it okay to 5 times a week though if I'm just focussing on one or two muscle groups per day?

 

Well, since you're new to lifting, almost anything will work for a little while. But why would you want to lift 5x/week? It's wholly unnecessary and may even be counterproductive. I'd follow either a full-body or some sort of simple upper/lower, or push/pull kind of routine, focusing on the main movements - deadlift, squat, bench, pull-ups/chin-ups, dips, overhead presses, etc. Lifting 5 times per week may be needed for elite athletes, but it's totally pointless for all the rest.

[Marcina]

I gained the most muscle just lifting 3-4 days a week. I would alternate heavy lifting days with not-so-heavy lifting days. Heavy being 5-6 reps, and moderate being about 10.

I also gave up the cardio, and ate lots.

[Pegesus]

I to am more on the lighter side at least for my liking. I'm 6'0" at last weigh in 160 lbs.

 

I used to train 5 days a week I ate around 4500 calories a day and never really noticed too much gain. I have a super fast metabolism as well. So bout 5 months ago I started on a Strength Training Program. Starting Strength but slightly modified. I workout now 3 days a weeks eat around 2500 - 3000 calories and I have noticed great gains as well and strength. I am now adding in at least 2 to 3 sessions of cardio each week around 1 hour since I am trying to cut the annoying bodyfat that lingers around the mid section in an effort to get the nice abs showing.

 

I would suggest trying something like that and see where it takes you.

[JLat86]

I to am more on the lighter side at least for my liking. I'm 6'0" at last weigh in 160 lbs.

 

I used to train 5 days a week I ate around 4500 calories a day and never really noticed too much gain. I have a super fast metabolism as well. So bout 5 months ago I started on a Strength Training Program. Starting Strength but slightly modified. I workout now 3 days a weeks eat around 2500 - 3000 calories and I have noticed great gains as well and strength. I am now adding in at least 2 to 3 sessions of cardio each week around 1 hour since I am trying to cut the annoying bodyfat that lingers around the mid section in an effort to get the nice abs showing.

 

I would suggest trying something like that and see where it takes you.

 

will do. thanks

[strawberryriddick]

The advice thus far has been good, but my recommendation is to listen to your body. Keep a workout journal and also list your diet, and change up your workout methods every 4-6 weeks. Then go back and see what worked for you and what didn't. What is "overkill" for one person is totally fine for another.

[medman]

My personal experience has been that I never put on any significant mass until I toned down my cardio a lot. I was training for half-marathons and duathlons, though, so my cardio schedule was pretty intense! These days I do a half hour of cardio a couple of times a week. Strawberryriddick's advice is probably the best...only you will know what your body wants and can handle. If you're finding your progress is slower than you like and you're sure you've got a solid lifting and eating regimen, then I would consider scaling back the cardio for a month or two and see what happens. If you're making decent progress, then keep the cardio if you enjoy it!

[funkyfitfreak]

I'm in the same boat with having issues not gaining muscle weight due to excess cardio. I have dropped cardio slightly because I'm taking time off from the club sport I play to concentrate on college but still incorporate it. I've been slowly gaining weight, something that has been very hard for me due to the excess amount of sport I have to do in college.

 

I usually work on the basis of volume. Whilst I try to go heavy, sometimes I can not and I just try to do more sets till failure on a slightly lower weight. Others may have different sessions.

[VeggieHead]

I run too much as well and people tell me to tone it down if i want to lose weight.