Hey guys, so I’m gaining some unwanted body fat although my strength gains have been strong (powerlifting). So I began doing cardio 4x a week, incline treadmill, speedwalking very fast (generally 1.5 miles in 15 minutes). I was wondering if I could do this plus stationary bike for the same time and speed focus another 2-3 days a week or if this might be too taxing on my lower body. Your opinions are all appreciated, thank you.
Im trying to do the same, so I don’t really have an answer, but I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’m doing 3 days of cardio/conditioning - one 10 minute heavy prowler, one 15 minute moderate prowler, and one day 25 minute long walk. I’m gonna mix in some agility ladder too just to keep things interesting. I’ve been walking a lot daily, but I don’t think it affects recovery that much
My coach told me that fat loss/getting shredded if nutrition supports it, but I dont care for a caloric deficit during a hypertrophy block
I will also return the courtesy in kind and let you know how mine goes.
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Lower body generally adapts pretty well as long as the mileage is kept low.
It’s much easier to control fat through diet than adding a ton of cardio in.
I prefer to add in cardio at 2 days a week 15-20 mins, test 3 weeks, then add in a day, once you get to 4 days a week start adding 5 minutes a session. Assuming diet is on point to support training and fat loss.
You will always take a slight performance hit so keep that noted.
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Calories in vs calories out determines surplus or deficit.
So doing a ton of cardio to get your deficit might not be the best method.
Though there’s the gflux idea you can always shoot for, -500 caloric deficit per day of 3000 in 3500 out could be a bit better than 2000 in 2500 out. In theory but that’s a ton of output.
Thanks for your reply. I’m trying to add this gradually but I fully accept I’ll take a strength hit, I’m just hoping to keep it minimal.
I’d assume conditioning while at a surplus would still be benefical to overall gains and GPP work tho, right?
Correct, a caloric surplus shouldn’t affect your ability to improve GPP or conditioning unless you’re gaining weight like crazy.
I should be good then. I might de-prioritize fat loss in that case since my main objective is to be ready to make 4th and 5th attempts at my next meet. But deep down I wanna be a Shredded Mofo (might go untested at some point).
If I go at a surplus on training days, and a small deficit on non-training days, would that still be able to support strength gains and slow fat loss?
You should lose weight if you’re weekly energy expenditure is a deficit. So basically, it depends how big the surplus and deficit are.
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I even say monthly. For the best long term results that are maintainable shoot for monthly totals versus weekly ( obviously if weight is trending up for 2 weeks the month is likely going to be bad )
There’s a complete difference between maximal fat loss and optimal though.
But would it still support muscle gain/recomping?
I been getting stronger and I look bigger at the same weight, so I assume I’ve been on the right track, but the conditioning is new and I’d just be starting closer
This would be so much easier if taking a hit on strength wasnt a factor 
Recomp is fairly easily with carb cycling IMO. Just depends how fast or slow you want to go.
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Sometimes it takes a genius to realize that 1+1=2
Doing a ton of cardio is a great way to lose muscle. Lose fat by regulating your diet, less calories and more protein to prevent muscle loss. Doing a bit of cardio is not bad, but 6-7 days a week is just ridiculous.
Where is @tasty_nate when we need him?
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Thanks for the tag @chris_ottawa, stuff’s been busy for me so I haven’t had a chance to check up on here much lately.
First off, just talking about natural lifters here. I don’t know enough about AASs to comment on much more than that they seem to buffer a lot of stupid training/nutrition choices. In my experience, cortisol levels are going to be very dependent on total volume/total external stress. A caloric deficit through diet is one way to lose fat, and will definitely be an added stress, but the same caloric deficit achieved through cardio would, in my simple mind, be more total stress since you have a caloric deficit + increased training volume to recover from. More stress = more cortisol = shit body comp.
At the end of the day, though, a lot of this is going to be individual specific. One of the things I love most about powerlifting is that it’s a constant experiment on myself. @plinnyc88, what are some of your stats? BW, age, approximate body composition, lifts, rough outline of diet that you’re using to gain weight? Might help pinpoint if there is a better course of action for cleaning up your body comp.
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My thoughts exactly.
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There’s a much easier way to lose weight than doing cardio…
Eat less.
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To each their own! Personally I don’t like to go too low calories
Do you compete in powerlifting?