Is cardio necessary to add in to your lifting routine for lean mass gaining and losing BF?

I have some recommending to hit the weights on Mon, Wed and Fri, then Tues, Thurs go for cardio / HIIT exercises.

And yet i read some say cardio and HIIT is not neccesary as lifting is enough exercise already.

Any sifu can clear this doubt?

Nope. Not necessary.

Diet is key for losing fat. Weight training is necessary for building muscle mass.

Do some cardio if you want to build stamina and heart health but it is not necessary to reaching your goals. It can help facilitate and quicken the process though.

Does it mean that if you stick to a clean diet + weight training, cardio or HIIT exercises can totally be out of your weekly routine?

Yes, definitely.

However, a bit of cardio is still good for health so no harm in doing it.

Specifically for your goal of "lean mass gaining and losing BF"

Yes. Not a problem. Many bodybuilders do the bare minimum cardio (5 minute warmups) because they don't like it. If you don't like cardio, don't do it. It isn't necessary to reach your goal.

Now, if your goal is to be able to run marathons or take part in a triathlon, then no. Those goals require high stamina and that would mean cardio.

However, just a bit of information - Unless you are an obese beginner in weight training, it is unlikely that you can GAIN mass while LOSING fat. Why? Because gaining mass requires a caloric SURPLUS, whereas losing mass (in this case, specifically fat) requires a caloric DEFICIT.

Once you are past the newbie stage (roughly estimated at 6 months by most people), it is practically impossible to build any mass while at a caloric deficit - you will maintain your mass which is great but you cannot expect any significant growth. That is why you will find serious bodybuilders all CYCLE their BULK and CUT phases and it takes years (not months) of consistent training to build up 10-20kg of pure muscle mass.

Cardio helps for heart function. I will always do it even i'm bulking now. (first time bulk, target for 3 years)

Doing a day of cardio once every 2 weeks. However I do not see any significant in terms of muscle / doms recovery from doing cardio.

Its not impossible. Its called a body recomp. I had this happen to me while I was a newbie and didnt know anything about diet. Simply bought a protein shake and workout while diet remained the same albeit the little bit of effort to add in meat and eggs for my daily meals. Lost 8kgs and looking visibly bigger. Bought my first L sized tshirt hehe.

And tbh I really really hate cardio in the gym. Friggin boring. I play sports for cardio.

Oh yes I suppose I should say obese and/or a newbie. Not necessarily an 'obese newbie'. Any newbie can and usually does add muscle mass while losing fat if they maintain a calorie deficit.

AFTER the newbie phase though, it is PRACTICALLY impossible. Not COMPLETELY impossible but results from trying to gain mass+lose fat simultaneously for most would be not worth the effort and time. Most of us are not so genetically fortunate to be able to do this successfully it seems. So it would be easier for most of us to just commit to cutting OR bulking.

Edited to add: I agree about typical cardio being boring (I will use the treadmill or stationary bike if I havent been getting cardio elsewhere though). It is considerably more fun to find a cardio centric activity (like cycling outdoors, walking/jogging to and from places, dance classes, team sports) in my opinion.

This post has been edited by shadowz: Feb 7 2013, 02:03 PM

I"m insecure nao cos am wearing L too. Means you catching up to me in size. Sniff.

Farkew u shorter for one and I wear damn loose loe if compared to u lol