Building Muscle While Still Staying in Shape

[Thunderchunky34]

So I am relatively new to lifting. So bear with me. A little over a year ago I started focusing more on building only. I was around 145. I lifted heavy and short. I did as much weight as I could at 5 reps in 3 sets. I ate chicken mainly and anything else like crazy.

Every thing worked out great. I gained about 10 pounds a month (I was really skinny before).

After these 3 months I immediately noticed how out of shape I was. My run times, push-ups, sit-ups, etc went waaaaaay down. Ater those 3 months I moved towards more body weight and conditioning exercises. Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, bike, jump rope, boxing type workouts.

I run into my problem. I can gain muscle quickly and it works well. But I need to be in shape also. As soon as I stop focusing %100 on lifting I basically lose everything.

So my question is this. How do I get and maintain muscle while doing moderate cardio and conditioning? I've thought about bulking and then trimming to get into shape but I'm not sure it'll work. Do I do that or just take like 2 years slowly building and toning?

Just and FYI I'm not looking to get huge. Just put some meat on and toning. Just an above average build. Looking for around 180 at 5'11"

Thanks for the help in advance. Obviously new to this.

[magician27]

you arent gaining more than 1-2 lbs muscle in a month . if you gain 10 lbs a month , you will get fat as hell. so gain weight slowly. thats how you stay in shhape. this has nothing to do with cardio

[Thunderchunky34]

So don't do cardio? And it should take about 2 years to go up 20 ilbs?

[BrightonBomber]

Lol you really need to get off the dreamer bulk you'll just end up an obese mess.

Are you even tracking your calorie intake, doesn't sound like it if your gaining weight so fast.

Maintaining muscle isn't your problem with the likely massive 1000 plus calorie surplus your on you could run everyday and still be fine.

All you need to do is track calories, bulk slowly and not overeat.

[magician27]

So don't do cardio? And it should take about 2 years to go up 20 ilbs?

cardio you can do if you want to maintain cardiovascular health, but it wont help for keeping fat off you if you dont drop calories a bit. i would take at least 8-12 months for gaining 20 lbs

[Thunderchunky34]

I was roughly tracking my calorie intake. It was around 3,500 give or take 500. I'm not worried about burning fat. I am worried about staying in shape. Conditioning, run time, etc. its necessary for my job. But I am also trying to build muscle.

What I'm asking is how do I got about doing this? Building quickly and then slimming or slowly building? If I slowly build is that cardio included in my lifting workout or Cadio and conditioning one day and lifting the next? I tried doing both but It just did nothing but exhaust the **** outta me with no progress.

Again. Not trying to get huge. Just want to get to a muscular athletic build I can still run 10 miles with.

[banjoman23]

- There's no reason, outside of time constraints, one can't be a runner and a lifter
- Maintain an energy balance properly suited towards your goals. Heavier = stronger. Lighter = Better for your race times. Aesthetics = Some subjective compromise in between
- If your goals aren't elite-endurance-athlete related, stick to a structured weightlifting routine same as you would otherwise. If you're a beginner, Fierce 5 and All Pro are two great choices, and only 3 strength training days a week should leave plenty of time for cardio for the motivated.

Good luck!