Gym fitness experience

For ordinary fitness enthusiasts, there is no absolutely correct training template. The most effective method is always to "first find the smallest action that you can persist in, and then dynamically adjust it based on body feedback." All behaviors that focus on weight, duration, and imitate the master's plan are essentially putting the cart before the horse.

When I first applied for the card, I was confused. I saved dozens of plans in a certain book folder called "Three months to train to look thin when dressed and undressed". I followed the five-point hard training and went to the gym six times a week, for at least two hours each time. I had to do the bench press with the ball next to me. The big brother in the white-pink sponsored uniform compared the weights. He couldn’t even deadlift twice his body weight, so I was embarrassed to say hello to others. At the end of the training, I relied on swinging my waist for every set of exercises. When I put the dumbbells down, the entire equipment area looked at me, and I felt like I was working really hard. As a result, a problem occurred in the third month, supraspinatus tendinitis. The pain was so painful that I would wake up at night when I lay on my side and put pressure on my shoulders. I had to ask my roommate for help when I took off my jumper. I went to the hospital and underwent physical therapy for half a month before I recovered.

Later, I also talked to many friends who are good at training, and I found that the "training system contempt chain" that is currently raging on the Internet is really unnecessary: ​​I know a programmer friend who works in the backend. He only has 40 minutes to go to the gym after get off work every day, so he does full-body differentiation. He does 3 sets of each squat, push, and pull. He only practices 3 times a week. In three months, his body fat has dropped from 24% to 20%, and his belly has shrunk a lot.； There is also a friend who plays amateur bodybuilding. He just sticks to the five-point split. He only works on one part every day. He can do 12 sets on his shoulders alone. During the preparation period, his body fat can be reduced to less than 10%, and his lines are very beautiful. To put it bluntly, the training system has never been divided into high and low. You only have half an hour a day, so don’t just copy other people’s two-hour five-point plan. Your goal is to compete in competitions and get results, so naturally you have to do targeted differentiation and carving to find the one that suits you.

The debate about diet is even more outrageous. Some people say that you must eat chicken breasts and broccoli to "eat cleanly" and not even touch a sip of milk tea. Some people say that as long as you calculate the caloric deficit, you can eat anything. I followed the former's example and ate boiled chicken breasts for two months. One day I passed by the fried chicken shop downstairs and couldn't hold it back. I bought three burgers at once and showed off all of them. Over the next week, I drank iced milk tea every day and gained 5 pounds. I almost gave up. Later, I made adjustments. When calculating the total calories every day, I deliberately set aside a "happy limit" of 200 calories. It was no problem to buy a cone on the way from get off work or drink half a glass of iced Coke after training. Instead, I easily persisted for more than a year. My body fat has been stable at around 15%, and I have never had any carbon explosions. Of course, I also know professional players who are preparing for the competition. They really don’t eat anything in the three months before the competition. That’s because they have clear short-term goals. Ordinary enthusiasts really don’t need to use this standard to criticize themselves. A diet plan that cannot be adhered to is useless no matter how scientific it is.

Many people tend to fall into the misunderstanding of "the more you practice, the better" when they first started working out. When I was recovering from a shoulder injury, I followed the doctor's advice and replaced one day of strength training a week with walking or swimming 1,000 meters in the park. I tried to sleep for 7 hours a day. However, the bench press weight increased by 10kg in the second month. In fact, the muscles themselves grow during rest. If you train them every day until they are overdrawn and don't give you time to repair, let alone gain muscle, it's better if you don't get injured. Don’t really believe in the argument that “practicing to exhaustion is effective.” If you feel so much pain the next day that you can’t even lift your arms to type on the keyboard, you must have practiced.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the gym is just an ordinary place for exercise. There is no need to take it too seriously. You don’t need to compare your bench press weight with the big brother next door, and you don’t need to be anxious because you don’t have the vest line that others have practiced for three months. I don’t even make detailed plans when I go to the gym now. If I’m in good shape that day, I’ll do two more sets. If I’m not in good shape, I’ll run for 20 minutes and go straight home. Anyway, as long as you stick to it for a long time, even if you only practice for 20 minutes each time, it’s better than having to go out twice and just lie down. Oh, by the way, if you meet a coach who grabs you right away and tells you that your movements are wrong and wants to sell you lessons, first check to see if his belly is smaller than yours, and go through everything he says first. It’s absolutely correct, haha.