Muscle increases with lots of cardio

[phoenix05]

Hello everyone. I posted a while back that i had some pretty big fat loss goals and i nearly got to the exact weight i wanted, but realised once i looked in the mirror and got honest about myself, that i was well and truly as low as i needed to go. I was still about 5 or 6 pounds off what I'd initially set, but i didn't like what i looked like being that small so i stopped.

But I'm happy because the goal was to cut for as long as i could and then to bulk up. Thankfully i am at the bulking stage now, but I've run into some hurdles along the way, and i could desperately use some advice.

Firstly i am doing a similar weights program that i was doing whilst cutting. I.E. Push/Pull/Legs routine. I believe i have that part of my training down, and don't think i need to worry too much about that. I was adding strength during my cut so i know that was working, and I've mixed it up a little now so i don't stay on the same program for too long.

So I'm trying to do three sessions a week with one for push, one for pull and one for legs. My problems start now that football season has started. We train pretty intensely for about 2 hours, twice a week. Also i have started training with a rowing crew who concentrate solely on cardio training. We train 3 times a week with the rowing club and it's around about an hour out on the water. I know it kills my back and shoulders after we're done, but I'm not sure it's going to be a great muscle building exercise, more an endurance thing.

SO my week looks like this:

Monday: Lunchtime: Weights (Push)
Afternoon: Rowing

Tuesday: Afternoon: Football training

Wednesday: Lunchtime: Weights (Pull)
Afternoon: Rowing

Thursday: Afternoon: Football Training

Friday: Afternoon: Weight Training (Legs)

Saturday: Morning: Rowing

Sunday: Rest

My goal is to get bigger. I feel like my fitness is fine, so the rowing and football is just for fun and to be competitive. First and foremost i want to get bigger, and mainly in the upper body.

So i've been doing this for a while now and while my fitness has increased, and my strength has increased slightly, my size has stayed about the same. I'm guessing this is because I'm doing so much cardio.

My diet is basically simple. I eat as much as i possibly can. I'm finding i have no choice in this regard. I'm always hungry. I try and balance my food as much as i can, but my aim is simply to eat and eat. I'm going to try and get this a little more structured over the coming weeks.

So does anyone have any suggestions on how i could maximize my muscle gains? The only things i can change in that routine is the weights sessions. The rowing and football are set by the clubs and i have no control over them.

I could possibly throw in some more weight sessions into the mix if that will help. I have every lunchtime off for about 45 minutes, and so could put in more sessions then.

I'll take any suggestions at this point!

Thanks so much!

 

[Spaullba]

It will likely be extremely difficult to gain any serious size with that much cardio throughout the week. All I would say is maybe plan out your diet more concretely, make sure you are getting enough protein and are at a good caloric surplus (which may be hard with how active you are). Also I would make sure you are doing high weight low reps sets in the gym, they tend to better for mass gains.

 

[NJ-Surfer]

Size occurs outside of the gym not in it. You're going to have to eat a whole lot more and lift less if you want to gain size. Cut out any redundant exercises, for example you're probably working your back plenty with the rowing so I wouldn't do much if any horizontal pulling in your lifting program. Same goes for the football workouts...if you do a lot of pushups in practice no need to hit the bench press. Right now you are most likely overtraining so you're not going to see much if any size increase. Essentially you need more recovery time and food to build muscle size and this can only occur outside of the gym.

 

[phoenix05]

Size occurs outside of the gym not in it. You're going to have to eat a whole lot more and lift less if you want to gain size. Cut out any redundant exercises, for example you're probably working your back plenty with the rowing so I wouldn't do much if any horizontal pulling in your lifting program. Same goes for the football workouts...if you do a lot of pushups in practice no need to hit the bench press. Right now you are most likely overtraining so you're not going to see much if any size increase. Essentially you need more recovery time and food to build muscle size and this can only occur outside of the gym.

This makes sense. We do mainly running at football at the moment. Very little pushups and situps and the typical old school training techniques. As for rowing, obviously we are just in the boat and mix it up between sprints and longer distance things.

I can definitely feel the drain this week. I'm a lot more tired then i felt initially and i know i haven't got enough sleep right now. I'll make sure i increase that and start eating more. I've had a few people say that it's too hard to build any muscle mass whilst doing this routine, and others that believe I'll be fine if i get enough calories.

It's confusing but I'll add more quality food to my diet and increase my rest.

Thanks!

 

[Spaullba]

If you are overtraining and not getting enough rest even the best diet won't help ya =P.

 

[NJ-Surfer]

This makes sense. We do mainly running at football at the moment. Very little pushups and situps and the typical old school training techniques. As for rowing, obviously we are just in the boat and mix it up between sprints and longer distance things.

I can definitely feel the drain this week. I'm a lot more tired then i felt initially and i know i haven't got enough sleep right now. I'll make sure i increase that and start eating more. I've had a few people say that it's too hard to build any muscle mass whilst doing this routine, and others that believe I'll be fine if i get enough calories.

It's confusing but I'll add more quality food to my diet and increase my rest.

Thanks!

The proof is in the pudding. Like any training program it comes down to trial and error. So eat more and if that doesn't work cut back on the exercise time. I usually suggest at least 2 week trial & error before making any adjustments. Don't expect so see big changes in 2 weeks most likely 0.5 to 2 lb difference. Its very important to make sure you have a good measure of your progress to best gauge your efforts. Weigh youself at exactly the same time each day under the same conditions (ie. empty stomach and empty bladder, or full stomach and full bladder..it doesn't matter just be consistent). Also do the same for body measurements: biceps, chest, waist, neck. Once you get this wired you will better understand how your body responds to diet and exercise and then things become almost 2nd nature. Good Luck!!