Don’t forget to include your heart when training for bulk …
I had an amazing cardio week as I was able to run almost every single day. The temperature outside was favorable for most of the week so most of my runs were outdoors. Running literally awakens my body and starts me off on the right foot … no pun intended. Most of my bodybuilding peers would say that I am burning too many calories and making it more difficult to build muscle with all of the cardio that I do, but I beg to differ. In fact, I am willing to bet that the human body will not NATURALLY grow beyond the heart’s capacity to support it … notice I said NATURALLY. Sure there are drugs (steroids) available that make it easier for the human body to UNNATURALLY bulk up, but there is a hidden cost. It may not happen right away, but the toll that sports enhancing drugs places on the human body becomes increasingly insurmountable with each passing cycle. Some are able to walk away, while many others end up suffering catastrophic organ failure and wind up limping away with regret.
If you want to bulk up the safe and effective way, then make sure to not forget about strengthening your heart so that it can support the added muscle weight that you want to put on. I cringe every time I read about some IFBB dumb-ass professing about how little or no cardio they have to do to get into contest shape. What they fail to address is how much crap they are putting into their bodies to artificially burn fat to get lean. They would rather inflate their egos and make you believe that they are somehow more superior rather than man up to the fact that they are no better, if not less. The equation for muscle growth is pretty simple my friends. If you train heavy and hard every single day, it comes down to the following deciding factor: If you have a positive caloric and nitrogen balance at the end of the day, you will have enough resources to help your body recover and subsequently build more mass. So then how do I do it? I run between 2.5-3.0 miles every day without fail, so I make sure to eat enough food so that my total training (cardio and weights) caloric expenditure does not exceed my overall caloric intake.
Take it from me, your heart is the most important muscle in your entire body. Not being able to maintain consistent biceps, pecs, quads, etc. strength won’t kill you. On the other hand, not doing enough cardio to strengthen the heart can and will eventually kill you.