For a lot of people who do bodybuilding, cardio is part of their regime. Everybody has their own reasons for wanting to include cardio. Some reasons include:
- They believe it helps their bodybuilding efforts…
- They like the cardiovascular benefits they gain from it…
- It’s a hobby for them…
- They do it to stop them from putting on fat…
- They simply love all forms of keeping fit…
Each reason is fine. Everyone has their own ways, and anyone who puts the effort in to keep healthy earns my respect.
However, many of the worlds top experts in muscle and strength believe cardio does absolutely nothing for bodybuilding efforts, and can even work against muscle growth.
It really depends what you want from your life. What is most important to you? If putting muscle on is the most important thing, it may be in your best interests to consider the advice that not only will cardio take away extra calories that would have been used for building muscle, but, many experts agree that bodybuilding cardio actually depletes muscle building hormones.
If trying to build muscle then, why not lay off doing cardio while you are bulking, and then come back to it afterwards?
During a cutting phase, doing some cardio may help to control you calorie intake and boost your metabolism, but again, some believe that heavy weight training is the best way to do this, and that cardio will slow the process.
My advice is simply this: If you love cardio, life is too short to worry about optimal this and optimal that. Just do what you want to do and enjoy it.