Hello everyone, this is my first post to this great forum! I have been reading up on this site for the past few months now and it is great information! I have been lifting wieghts for about 2.5 yrs now and doing martial arts for most of my life. I think I am kind of a mix between a mesomorph and an endomorph, being that i have learned to really change my metabolism usually within an hour. And I have had 'bad' sprints growing up, being in bands, smokin weed, drinkin too much, living on fastfood with no breakfast, etc etc. Now those days are over with, and I have seriously started training for the last couple of years. Reading this site and the food logs I have noticed I made alot of the mistakes when I started and probably wasted over a YEAR eating wrong and only gained very little. The real results happened when I started cycling some creatine and changed my diet. I went from 145 to 170 in about a year in a half, which still is a long time, but I made some good gains.

Now I am at a point where my workouts are working for me, and I am still constantly tweaking my diet and keeping food logs. Right now I have a schedule that looks like this:

Mon
Cardio a.m.
Chest/Abs

Tues
Cardio a.m.
Back/Biceps

Weds
Cardio a.m.
Triceps/Shoulders

Thurs
Cardio a.m.
Martial Arts teaching/studying

Fri
Off

Sat
Martial Arts teaching/studying
Legs

Sun
Off

I do cardio in the mornings before work or any meals for 20-30 minutes, just to burn fat. I do my wieght training in the evenings, and try to not stay at the gym for more than an hour plus keep the intensity high. The Martial Arts is great for flexibility, emotional control, and piece of mind, but it is not intense cardio a lot of the time.

I get 7.5-8 hrs of sleep a night and drink close to a gallon of water per day. When I go through my food logs (i use fitday software) I am intaking about 2700 cals per day w/ 250-270 grams of protien per day. I take plenty of vitamins every morning and essential fatty pills, like soy, fish and flaxseed oil. I also take plenty of whey protien shakes and supplement Glutamine every am and pm. I try to keep the carb intake in the mornings and lessen it with 5-6 healthy meals throughout the day.

I am currently
5'9 tall
174 pounds
13% fat

My questions for anyone who would be kind enough to answer are:

During winter months I cycle creatine every month (1 month off, 1 on) and only take it before workouts. Anyone do it differently or know of a better method?

Is doing Cardio in the AM for 20-30 minutes generally bad for a bulking phase? I just hate putting on fat! I guess we are all socially programmed that way haha!

From this workout, should I be eating more cals? Any good websites to find generally how many cals I should be taking?

Is my split good? Any suggestions on my routine?

My main advice use as much weight as you are capable of for all your exercises' sets and reps. try to progress each workout.

What is your goals? Which ones are concerned about meeting? You seem to be doing well.

You didn't talk to exercises you do or how many calories you take in, now.

My goals are simple, to build muscle and burn fat constantly.

Really I am just needing extra advice.

Plus I am wondering if my cardiovascular workouts would interfere with a bulking phase, even though i do them in the mornings.