How much cardio should I do when bulking?

[SportinStyle]

Well some of you may remember from way back, but anywhoo.... Ive let myself go! Not too bad but Ive lost my six pack and have been losing muscle. Im not really sure why; I work out the same as before, hell if not better.

So my question is how much cardio should I do when trying to bulk and also why might I be losing muscle as well?

 

[musclepump]

What's your diet like? You say you let yourself go, that should be a good sign.

 

[SportinStyle]

Well my workout is 3x3 (plus a kill set) and my diet isnt completely strict lol I eat healthyish.. Sometime when I come in after a night of partying though, things go WAY south. This week though Im going to start something new and see if I like it.

Im thinking something like:

Breakfast:
3 Packs of Oatmeal (Regular 300 cals total), a cup and a half of 1 percent milk (150 cals), and 2 peices of toast (Whole wheat 200 calories total).

Lunch:
Tuna Salad on Wheat bread (Id guess 250ish cals?)
This is while Im at school and they dont seem to promote health much besides Tuna, so I dont know what else to eat.

Mid-day:
After workout protein shake (35g's of protein)

Whatever this time of day is called :
97% Lean meat hamburgers (2 of them), Some lowfat or Nofat cottage cheese

Before bed:
Some fruit and a protein shake

 

[Seanp156]

That doesn't sound like much to eat to me.
Your diet doesn't sound too bad, just doesn't seem like enough food for a bulk.

Have you added up total calories, and total grams of far, carbs, and protein throughout a normal day? If you're bulking, then cals should be pretty high. I'd say at least 3000 for you and more if you can.

And as far as cardio while bulking, I haven't been doing much at all lately. I was doing cardio 3 times a week or so when I first started. I usually would do this either before or after my workout, but now I don't want to be fatigued before I start lifting and I'm usually too tired afterwards to do it.

I'd probably do it on off days if I could, but I usually don't have time right now. Sometimes after a workout I'll still do some sprints and jog a little, but not usually anything over 10 minutes long.

 

[musclepump]

I looked at it this way... I had plenty of blood flowing and increased heart rate during my workouts over the course of my last bulking phase. I didn't need cardio. Doing cardio would just mean I had to add some more calories to eat, and I was already getting around 3,500.

 

[Dale Mabry]

You could use some healthy fats as well.

 

[Island Roots]

Since I started bulking a little while ago, I cut all cardio from my workout. When I did do cardio, I use to hop on a bike at the beginning of my workout and go two miles, then do the same at the end of my workout.