Go running while trying to build muscle?

[YoungBeast22]

Just got a question if it would be ok to go running to trim up my phsique while on opposite days training to gain lean muscle like intense upper body routine. Is this counter productive?

[schnitzelmopi]

You're 135 and you're trying to trim up? I would recommend getting under some heavy weight and gaining some quality weight. Lifting burns a lot of calories and the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism is. Don't just focus on the upperbody, either. Your legs love muslces, too. Squat it out.

[YoungBeast22]

You're 135 and you're trying to trim up? I would recommend getting under some heavy weight and gaining some quality weight. Lifting burns a lot of calories and the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism is. Don't just focus on the upperbody, either. Your legs love muslces, too. Squat it out.

good tip ive stupidly been avoiding legs, and im only about 5 foot 6 so the weight looks like ok size, its mostly the gut lower chest and legs im looking to trim

[usafman81]

One thing I've learned over the years is that belly fat doesn't just fall off. It's one of the hardest areas to lose fat from. The easiest being your hands/feet and it gets harder the closer towards your center you go. There's nothing wrong with keeping up a good amount of cardio and trying to gain some muscle at the same time.

However, from what I've seen and been told if you are going seriously into gaining mass, you need to avoid too much cardio. As already said here though, just building up a nice core set up muscles will help your overall calories burning effect of your body. Play around with how many calories you intake each day, keeping it at least enough to sustain your work outs and energy all day long but not enough where it could last two or three days.

After I lost about 15 lbs I noticed my calorie intake actually increase a bit in order to keep me from being burnt out at the end of the night after work. That was probably because I built my muscles back up and the extra activity was draining me a little more. I did fine on 2500/day but then started getting headaches near the end of the night. I hate eating right before I go to bed so I started eating a little more for lunch and dinner. That seemed to help the headaches out a lot.

I'm currently trying to keep roughly 3500/day estimated of course, I don't have time to carry a calculator with me everywhere. Many websites list average calories for common types/portions of meals. My wife has a Weight Watchers .com booklet that gives their point system which is pretty good for counting calories ... sort of. They use a point system instead but you get the idea.

On 3500/day I run 2-5 miles 3-4 times a week, at a 5-6/min mile pace. On my off running days, I hit the gym for 30-45 minutes then finish it up with some body weight exercises (push ups, sit ups, pull ups, lunges, etc). Seems to work fine for me but keep in mind that I'm not trying to gain too much weight -- just yet. (Trying to change my lifestyle and be healthy first!)

[YoungBeast22]

One thing I've learned over the years is that belly fat doesn't just fall off. It's one of the hardest areas to lose fat from. The easiest being your hands/feet and it gets harder the closer towards your center you go. There's nothing wrong with keeping up a good amount of cardio and trying to gain some muscle at the same time.

However, from what I've seen and been told if you are going seriously into gaining mass, you need to avoid too much cardio. As already said here though, just building up a nice core set up muscles will help your overall calories burning effect of your body. Play around with how many calories you intake each day, keeping it at least enough to sustain your work outs and energy all day long but not enough where it could last two or three days.

After I lost about 15 lbs I noticed my calorie intake actually increase a bit in order to keep me from being burnt out at the end of the night after work. That was probably because I built my muscles back up and the extra activity was draining me a little more. I did fine on 2500/day but then started getting headaches near the end of the night. I hate eating right before I go to bed so I started eating a little more for lunch and dinner. That seemed to help the headaches out a lot.

I'm currently trying to keep roughly 3500/day estimated of course, I don't have time to carry a calculator with me everywhere. Many websites list average calories for common types/portions of meals. My wife has a Weight Watchers .com booklet that gives their point system which is pretty good for counting calories ... sort of. They use a point system instead but you get the idea.

On 3500/day I run 2-5 miles 3-4 times a week, at a 5-6/min mile pace. On my off running days, I hit the gym for 30-45 minutes then finish it up with some body weight exercises (push ups, sit ups, pull ups, lunges, etc). Seems to work fine for me but keep in mind that I'm not trying to gain too much weight -- just yet. (Trying to change my lifestyle and be healthy first!)

thanks for the help im goin to keep bulking for a month or 2-3 months and lost any weight i dont want after that