What are some tips for beginners to get started with fitness?

The most core entry-level skills for beginners in fitness are actually never high-level movements or internet celebrity plans. Instead, they should first put "not getting injured" and "being able to persist" at the top of all goals. Don't pursue quick success right from the start. Often the people who go the furthest are the ones who walk the slowest at the beginning.

A while ago, I took a post-00s kid who just joined the company to the gym. On the first day, he learned from the senior trainers in the free zone. When he came up, he carried a 60kg barbell and squatted. He squatted for three times and almost fell down.

Speaking of this, some people must want to ask, should I just hire a private tutor if I don’t know anything? There is actually no standard answer to this matter in the industry. One school of thought is that novices have no concept of movement patterns at all. It is easy to develop bad habits of compensation by practicing blindly, which will be difficult to change later. Finding a reliable personal trainer to give 10 lessons to lay the foundation is the most efficient. ； The other group thinks that the level of personal trainers on the market is mixed, and many people come out to teach when their own movements are not up to standard. It is better to follow the popular exercise physiology bloggers to learn the basic movements for two weeks, and look in the mirror to find the feeling of strength with bare hands.

In fact, in the first half month of getting started, you don't even need to touch heavy weights. You can just use the lightest dumbbells and practice with bare hands. For example, when practicing chest press, you try to lower your shoulders and press your shoulder blades against the bench. Don't shrug your shoulders so much that they touch your ears when you push. Even if you push a 2.5kg dumbbell, you can feel the tightness of the contraction of the chest muscles, which is more useful than swinging a 10kg dumbbell like a swing. Oh, and there is another point that is often overlooked. Don't wear thick-soled dad shoes to train your lower limbs. I have seen people wearing 5cm thick-soled dad shoes for deadlifts. Their center of gravity was unstable and they suddenly slipped. Wear basic training shoes with flat and hard soles. The feet are as stable as roots on the ground, which is stronger than anything else.

By the way, there is also the matter of post-workout stretching. Now there are different opinions in the academic circles. Some studies say that static stretching after exercise has a very limited effect on relieving delayed onset soreness. It is not as effective as doing dynamic activation such as jumping jacks and high leg raises before exercise. Rolling with a foam roller after exercise is more effective.； But there are also many veterans who have been practicing for more than ten years. They feel that after practicing for three to five minutes, the tightness of the muscles will disappear quickly and the muscles will not be as stiff as a hard board the next day. You don’t have to worry about this at all. You can try it twice and choose whichever is more comfortable.

After talking about training, let’s talk about food that everyone is most concerned about. Don’t just start eating boiled chicken breasts and broccoli. When my best friend just started working out last year, she cooked vegetables for four days and showed off a whole fried chicken and milk tea on the fifth day. Instead, she gained two pounds than before. If you usually like to eat braised rice, just peel off the chicken skin, and if you like to drink milk tea, switch to three-point sugar without adding any ingredients. If you like to drink milk tea, adjust the diet to a smaller extent. If you can stick to it, it will be more effective than any extreme diet. The same is true when it comes to supplements. Some people think that novices don’t need to drink protein powder at all. They just need to eat enough eggs and milk with normal meals. Others think that they are busy at work and don’t have enough protein during meals, so it’s convenient to make a spoonful of protein powder. It all depends on your own diet. If you can eat a palmful of lean meat, two eggs and a cup of milk a day, you don’t have to waste money at all. If you often eat takeout to get enough protein, there is nothing wrong with supplementing.

Also, don’t be stupid and go to the gym every day. I met a guy who just quit his job and was preparing to work out and build muscle at home. He practiced 7 days a week for two hours each time. As a result, he caught a cold in the third week and lost three or four pounds of muscle. In fact, all the training was in vain. Novices should train 3-4 times a week, training different parts each time, and give the muscles enough rest time of 48 hours so that they can grow slowly. Think of muscles as crops. You have to water them, fertilize them and bask in the sun. You can’t harvest them every day, right?

Those around me who have been working out for five or six years did not set any goals at the beginning, such as "reaching the vest line in three months" or "bench pressing 100kg in half a year." They just wanted to lift 0.5kg more than last time and do two more push-ups every time they practiced. It gradually became a habit engraved in their lives. There are not so many mysterious techniques. First, ensure that you are not injured and can persevere, which is more effective than any fancy method.