If you are looking to achieve a lifetime best conditioning for an onstage bodybuilding show, or just your own personal physical achievement, cardiovascular exercise is going to play a large role in the process. Obviously you are going to have to limit your calories, particularly in the form of carbohydrates. Your training will become more intense, with shorter breaks to compensate for the higher number of both sets and repetitions per set. Choosing which cardiovascular movements to employ might seem like a secondary concern to you. However, it is highly important that you use the right movements if you wish to preserve muscle, burn body fat, and boost the metabolism in the most meaningful manner. Here are some guidelines to follow when planning your cardio approach to show preparation.

Never use these movements

All-out sprinting is very effective for burning calories and cutting body fat. Athletes from all sporting areas use this technique. However, as a bodybuilder, it is not welcome in your pre-contest regimen. Sprinting can cost you valuable muscle. The general guideline with effective bodybuilding cardio is the longer you do it, with the least amount of intensity, the more muscle you will preserve. Those shorter burst of cardio activity burn muscle, not fat and carbohydrates (sugar) in your bloodstream. Also avoid any extreme use of any cardio activity which pushes your heart rate above 140 beats per minute. At this point, you are training for athletic performance – not muscle preservation.

Occasionally use these movements

There are some exercises which are effective from time to time in the pre-contest plan. If you’re way behind in your preparation, high-intensity, high-incline stair-stepping might be a good option. However, for most circumstances, the use of this or any high intensity cardio (including rowing in particular) is going to cost you muscle. Use this cardio only when needed to accelerate weight loss if you’re failing to reach your desired weight class.

Always use these movements

There is nothing safer than walking for bodybuilding cardiovascular exercise. Equally safe for muscle preservation, with a little less metabolic boost and full body intensity, is stationary biking. Just about any movement in the cardio area is going to be safe (assuming you have healthy knees) as long as the intensity is kept at a 110 to 120 bpm rate.

There’s nothing wrong with tossing in a ‘banned’ movement every now and then if you really want to. And ‘always’ doesn’t mean you should use these movements every week. Rather, these are simply guidelines for general usage. Try to extend your time spent doing cardio, while reducing intensity. The greater the intensity, the greater muscle cost for any exercise. Remember that you should always be completing this cardio training on an empty stomach if you wish to burn stored body fat, and not just use up the sugars in your bloodstream and carbohydrates in your digestive track. Energy drinks like RedLine or Gatorade might give you energy to train, but the use of them short-circuits your efforts in the cardiovascular department.

If you like this article, click here to share: