Hey. Need some advice. Relative newcomer to training hard the t-man way. As a 42 year old with about 15% body fat, I both want to reduce that percentage, while gaining size. I realize I can’t do both at the same time. From reading a lot of the postings on t-forum, it seems like the best thing to do is do a bulk phase, (even at the risk of upping the body fat) and then doing a cutting phase. Do I have that right?
If that’s the case, and I put myself on a bulking program, would I totally eliminate ALL cardio from my workouts? If so, for how long?
And would EDT and EDT phase 2 be a good bulking training program to follow. Thanks as always for any help and advice. Appreciate the help.
Keep the cardio. The health benefits are quite important. As well, you actually want to lean down quite a bit before you start to bulk. Don’t worry too much, if you’re ‘new’ to this game then you’ll see muscle gain initially anyway. I’d recommend reading all you can on diet. As well, as a beginner you’ll want to focus on technique and strength (since bulking is easiest when you’re strong). Maybe trying Ian King’s 12 weeks to Super Strength and his Limping into October series. THEN, when you’re stong and lean you’ll want to focus on bulking.
El_Machinae has it pretty right if you are new to hard training. It is best to get into some cardio not only for the fitness but also for preventing injuries. When you feel pretty comfortable, cut back on the cardio and do weights. I find that if I alternate walking (for 3-4 hour) and weights it really cuts off the fat.
Handstand
I think this depends on the individual. I for one, can’t put on any muscle mass (or even hold on to it for that matter) if I’m doing any amount of cardio. I imagine if I ate 6000 kcals a day I might be able to do it, but I have enough of a hard time eating enough as it is. Needless to say, I don’t do any cardio these days when bulking and do very little or even none if cutting. Cardio is, in my opinion, extremelly overrated. My cardiovascular system get’s enough conditioning from full body workouts with little rest between exercises so i don’t feel like i need it at all. Funny thing is, in the rare ocasions that I do it, I didn’t notice a significant loss of endurance. My resting heart rate is fine and acording to the last physical evaluation I did, my heart recovers his normal rate a lot faster after HIIT than any of the cardio jockeys seem to. Go figure…