Best Cardio For Bodybuilding

During bodybuilding, you may think that there’s no need for cardio and that’s a huge mistake. Lots of bodybuilders are afraid of cardio, at least, some of them. That’s why there’s a common myth that bodybuilders should not do cardio, or at least, there’s no need for it.

Some bodybuilders seem to think this way as they worry that cardio training will undo months of hard work in terms of losing the lean muscle mass that they worked so hard for. However, the best cardio for bodybuilding will significantly help up your bodybuilding game as it will help you get rid of extra fat and come with numerous other benefits. Having this said, many people are confused (quite a bit) about what cardio to do, and more particularly: what is the best cardio for bodybuilding.

Regardless, you should know that cardio for bodybuilding is extremely important to add to your training regime. That’s regardless if you’re a pro preparing for a competition (because it can offer the necessary edge), or just starting out in the world of bodybuilding (offering great results).

The bodybuilding cardio regime is going to help you lose body fat while allowing you to maintain lean muscle mass and strength, offering numerous other benefits, particularly cardiovascular benefits. So, in this article, we’re going to talk about cardio for bodybuilding – answering important questions such as where to start, how to do it, and so on.

Cardio For Bodybuilding

Cardio is short for cardiovascular exercise, which is also popular as endurance training. It will significantly help improve your heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently. Cardio will also help increase the amount of oxygen carried around in your cells. That’s extremely helpful even for muscle growth because your muscles need oxygen (and better blood flow, for better nutrient transportation around muscles) for their resting and growing abilities. Having this said, cardio for bodybuilding can actually help muscle growth (hypertrophy). Of course, when in combination with actual strength training. But the main use of a bodybuilding cardio workout is that it helps you burn more calories, inducing fat loss (or at least decreasing fat gains during a serious bulking in off season).

Just like strength training, there’s science behind cardio which proves that it can increase the results in the gym. Particularly fat loss. Yet, the amount of body fat that you will lose during cardio for bodybuilding is directly related to the number of fat-burning elements that you focus on. Keep in mind that it is almost impossible to shred body fat and add substantial lean muscle mass at the same time to get ripped and shredded. That’s especially true if you already have a lot of body fat percentage and/or a large amount of muscle mass, and you try to lose even more fat and add even more muscle. This is the reason why a lot of bodybuilders will follow the on and off-season diet and training plan (cutting and bulking). Cardio will help support your goals of getting shredded and ripped (of course, when in combination with strength training).

Off-season vs On-season

The best cardio for bodybuilding workouts is different when it comes off-season vs on-season. When it comes to off-season (bulking) training, trying to gain as much muscle and strength, then cardio workouts should be limited. Usually, it is one light cardio session a week. This session will be enough to keep your heart pumping, stay away from excessive fat gains, and yet ensure that all calories and energy focus on building muscle mass.

Yet, on the other hand, when it comes to on-season (cutting) training, when you try to preserve lean muscle mass but get rid of excessive fat that you likely gained during the off-season (bulking), then you tend to increase the number of cardio workouts, and likely its intensity. You increase to four cardio bodybuilding sessions a week, which will melt away stored fat. Still, you do need to avoid overdoing cardio as it may indeed burn lean muscle. So, you focus on four light to moderate sessions on-season (cutting cycles).

What’s The Best Cardio For Bodybuilding?

As said earlier, in bodybuilding, you primarily use cardio in an attempt to boost fat burning abilities. In order to maximize cardio effectiveness, you mix and match two types of bodybuilding cardio into your weekly schedule: low moderate intensity, and high intensity/HIIT.

Low-moderate intensity cardio for bodybuilding

When you want to burn excess fat without damaging your recovery ability (burns calories only in the form of fat), then you need to focus on low intensity cardio. It can be done either pre-or post-weight training. It doesn’t really affect your performance, because, as its name suggests, it is significantly less strenuous on the body than high intensity or High Intensity Interval Training cardio sessions. Still, most people do them post-workout and on days that are not weight training in order to ensure that all the energy, strength, endurance, and stamina focus on strength training. If you want to (personal preference), you could try low-moderate cardio for bodybuilding before your training. But if you find that it affects your weight training performance, aim for the post-workout cardio.

High intensity/HIIT cardio for bodybuilding

I definitely do not recommend going for high intensity/HIIT cardio sessions during the off-season. That’s because, during this time, you aim to focus on muscle growth. But high intensity/HIIT cardio sessions will affect your recovery and performance and, therefore, your muscle building abilities. That’s why, you can only do it during on-season, and only on non-weight training workouts. Not even post-workout, as they can still affect your muscle growing (recovering) abilities. Pre-weight training high intensity/HIIT cardio for bodybuilding sessions is completely out of the question, as they will significantly decrease your performance, causing fatigue and opening you up for injury. The high intensity cardio (or HIIT training) will put a lot of stress on both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. Anaerobic is the energy system necessary for weight training. Such cardio will put a lot of stress on the anaerobic system, potentially damaging your recovery and performance.

Cardio Examples:

Low-intensity cardio

A low intensity cardio is something that keeps your heart rate under 65-50% of your maximum heart rate. This will primarily focus on burning calories from fat deposits. It involves exercises such as cycling, walking, swimming, hiking, yoga, elliptical, shadowboxing, and others. Usually, low intensity cardio cardio time is anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes.

High intensity cardio

An example of a continuous high intensity cardio is a treadmill or elliptical machine, but usually at higher speeds. You use it for an extended duration of over 5 minutes at high speed.

High intensity interval training (HIIT) cardio

Internal training involves alternating periods of high intensity exercise (at almost maximum rate) and rest (or very low levels of work). An example of a HIIT cardio workout would be sprinting 100 meters and then walking back to the start and repeating again. Usually 5-10 times. Or using an elliptical machine with 80-90% of heart rate for a minute, then 20-30% of heart rate for a minute, and keeping this rate for 20 minutes, as an example.

Bodybuilding Cardio Routine

When it comes to bodybuilding, weight training is what you should be focusing on. Strength training is the most important as it helps build muscle and burn fat. Yet, cardio for bodybuilding will speed up fat loss and enhance heart health. With both strength training and cardio, you should pay attention not to overdo it. Otherwise, it will lead to an increased chance of injury or impacting your recovery (and therefore, muscle growth). So, when you try to gain muscle or lose fat, bodybuilding will need to do cardio that is focused on their requirements. So, the exact amount and type will vary on your goal, fitness level, and recovery time. For example, a guy who loses fat and improves their fitness level will likely need to increase the duration and intensity of their cardio.

Anyway, check below some examples of the best cardio for a bodybuilding routine with strength training to add lean muscle mass.

1. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday = 45-60 minutes of weight training followed by 20-30 minutes low intensity training. Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday rest days.
2. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday = 45-60 minutes of weight training. Wednesday 15-20 minutes of high intensity cardio and Saturday HIIT workouts such as ten 100 meter sprints. Sunday rest.
3. Combine the first two when you have enough experience and a higher fitness level. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday = 45 minutes of weight training followed by 20-30 minutes low intensity cardio. Wednesday 15-20 minutes of high intensity cardio and Saturday HIIT workouts such as ten 100 meter sprints. Sunday rest.

What Do I Need To Know About Cardio For Bodybuilding?

While there’s a lot of information on the internet regarding weightlifting, you may have noticed that not all of it is accurate, true, or helpful. The same is true when it comes to cardio. So, we are focusing on sourcing our information from science. Therefore, these top tips for cardio for bodybuilding will ensure that you get on the right track to achieve your goals.

What’s the best time to do a bodybuilding cardio workout?

According to research, the most effective time to perform cardio is first thing in the morning, when you are still having an empty stomach. Studies suggest that this is because your body will check into its fat stores for energy instead of having to burn the carbs first and then move on to the fat that you ate in the morning. Despite the fact that this is the best time for cardio if you follow a proper workout and diet, then bodybuilding cardio in the late afternoon can be just as effective. Such as eating protein and fat instead of carbs pre-workout.

What’s the best intensity for a bodybuilder cardio workout?

As you may have realized by reading this article so far, the intensity of cardio is measured by the percentage of your max heart rate while you are performing an exercise. For you to efficiently burn fat, you need to be around 55-65% of your maximum heart rate. Anything below that is not as effective at burning fat, while anything over that switches in burning carbs instead of fat stores. You can find your max heart rate by using various online calculators. A simple way is to subtract your age from 220 and multiply it by 0.65. That’s the ideal heart rate per minute that maximizes the fat burning abilities during the cardio for bodybuilding.

How long should cardio for bodybuilders last?

When you’re using cardio for bodybuilding, you’re only trying to increase oxygen flow to your muscles to enhance recovery, enhance heart health, and burn fat. That’s completely different cardio than when you try to train and prepare for a marathon where you focus on very long, often and likely strenuous cardio sessions. That’s why, for optimal results for getting big and shredded, you only perform cardio 3-4 times a week (on non resistance training days) during on-season. You can increase the length of the cardio session by 5 minutes every other week until you reach a total of about 30-40 minutes per cardio session. During the off-season, you only focus on once a week and low intensity 30-40-minute cardio sessions.

Do bodybuilders need to warm up/cool down?

Yes, that’s extremely important for any athlete. Rushing in or out of a cardio (or any other sports) session will put a lot of stress on the heart, muscles, tissues, and joints. It is important to warm up your muscles, tissues, and joints, ensuring your heart rate slowly increases and decreases. You’d need to stretch, walk, and only then run. Slowly increase the pace over a 3-5 minute period until reaching the ideal heart rate. Start slowly to avoid injuries and heart issues, and cool down toward the end (over 3-5 minutes) until the heart rate is back to normal (again, to avoid injuries and heart issues).

Do bodybuilders need cardio if you follow a nutrition plan?

Yes, it doesn’t matter how strict, low-calorie, or nutrient-dense your diet is, you will never achieve maximum results without cardio for bodybuilding. However, it is crucial to understand that the opposite is true too. It doesn’t matter how much cardio you do, you will never reach your maximum definition without a correct diet. You need to drop your calories below the maintenance and readjust as you lose weight every 1-2 weeks. Drop calories by about 500-1,000 under maintenance. Avoid forcing your body to go into starvation mode. When bulking up, however, increases over the maintenance to grow lean muscle mass. Nutrition is extremely important, both during bulking and cutting. Cardio is extremely helpful during both, especially during cutting. But diet is crucial, as you can’t achieve any results without a correct nutrition plan.

Should I take any supplements as a bodybuilder?

Have you seen bodybuilders who don’t use anything? Yeah, neither did I. All successful bodybuilders use various types of supplements. Using them is extremely effective, but even with supplements, optimal nutrition with correct training sessions (weight lifting and cardio) is crucial to success as a bodybuilder. Still, if you want to achieve and/or maintain your body in peak conditions while you’re working hard in the gym and in the kitchen, you will need various products. Protein powders, creatine, and numerous other supplements can be effective.

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