Offseason

[saur]

How many times a week should you workout during offseason?
How about cardio? To get lean mass it's a do or a don't?

[inflated]

Originally Posted by saur

How many times a week should you workout during offseason?
How about cardio? To get lean mass it's a do or a don't?

It depends on your workout program and the intensity of your workouts. If you are doing a full body workout then 3 to 4 times a week is good. If you are dividing up bodyparts then you can work out 6 days a week. Cardio can still be done during the offseason unless you are a super hardgainer then keep cardio to a minimum. Diet is probably the most important part of a successful offseason. Remember the core movements--squat, deadlift, and bench press should be the foundation of an offseason workout, no substitutes. Leg presses are not nearly as good as squats, machine bench presses do not recruit as many fibers as free weights etc.

[cccatl]

Originally Posted by saur

How many times a week should you workout during offseason?
How about cardio? To get lean mass it's a do or a don't?

This question is a bit odd in that most people don't have an offseason. Only people who compete have an off-season and an on-season. If you compete, you probably already know the answer to this question.

The reason why competitors have on/off seasons is because to compete, you have to be at really low bodyfat levels. You can't really grow on a diet that maintains that level of bodyfat. So, you "cut" for the on-season, and "bulk" during the off-season.

If you're not a competitor, like me, then there's no on or off-season, per se. There's the summer and the winter. You want to be more cut during the summer (when you take your shirt off) and bulk more in the winter. But, the difference in bodyfat levels, in my opinion, is not so great. I never want to be over 20% bodyfat and never under 10%. Competing bodybuilders, by contrast, are down to 5% bodyfat. If I get down to 5% bodyfat, not only can't I grow, but I also have low sex-drive, which kinda defeats the whole purpose of putting on muscle.

So, I don't have bulking/cutting phases. I know a lot of muscle mags talk about this. But, for me, adding mass does not require putting on fat, because I never get so low in bodyfat that I can't grow.

So, to answer your specific questions:

1) Work out 1 bodypart per week. I always try to get sore, but not hurt sore. More importantly, I always try to increasing my strength. This requires that I keep a notebook, so I remember what I was lifting last week.

2) I always do cardio. a) It exercises the most important muscle in the body, i.e. the heart, b) If I don't do cardio, I get fat