Men’s fitness and muscle building training methods

By long-term persistence in resistance training with progressive overload, a diet with slightly higher calories than daily consumption, a protein intake of 1.6-2.2g per kilogram of body weight, and a regular sleep of 7-9 hours, ordinary people can gain visible muscle growth in 6-12 months, and those with better talent can even gain 8-12 pounds of pure muscle.

Some people may want to ask, these points seem to be related to me, why are my arms still not thicker after practicing for three months? Don't worry, let's take our time and talk about the training part where everyone is most likely to go astray. Two years ago, I took care of a junior who had just entered college. When he first entered the gym, he ran for 40 minutes every day and then worked on his chest for an hour. After practicing for three months, he lost 2 pounds, and his chest circumference did not increase by half a centimeter. He also developed round shoulders. This is a typical example of not understanding the underlying logic of training and working blindly.

There is actually quite a lot of controversy about the training plan in the circle right now, and no one can convince anyone. In the past, the mainstream in the bodybuilding circle used five-point training, with chest, back, shoulders, arms, and legs each occupying one day, with five training days and two rests a week. The advantage is that the training capacity of a single muscle group can be fully stretched, and details can be worked out very finely. Small areas such as the upper edge of the chest, the thickness of the latissimus on the back, and the middle beam of the shoulders can be taken care of. It is suitable for people who can go to the gym 5-6 days a week and have more than a year of training foundation. Many professional athletes are still using this plan. But in recent years, the push-pull leg model has become more popular. The chest, shoulders and triceps are trained on the pushing day, the biceps are trained on the pulling day, and the entire lower limbs are trained on the leg day. Three rests or six rests are practiced on each day. Each muscle group can be trained twice a week. Recent studies also show that the muscle-building efficiency of medium training frequency is about 20% higher than training once a week. It is more friendly to novices. There is no need to wait a week to train a certain part, and the error tolerance rate is also high. If you are too busy, like my Internet friends, who can spare no more than 3 days a week, then the full-body training method is more suitable for you. Every time you go through the main muscle groups of the whole body, do 3 groups of 8-12 times for each movement, which can be done in 40 minutes. He practiced this method for half a year and gained 6 pounds of pure muscle, and only increased 2% of body fat. The price-performance ratio is ridiculously high. You really don’t have to take sides on which plan is better. The one that makes you stick to it is the one that suits you best.

No matter what plan you choose, you can't lose the progressive overload of the core. In human terms, you have to slowly increase the load on the muscles. Last month, you could bench press 40kg for 3 sets of 8 times. This month, you can either try to press 42.5kg for 3 sets of 8 times, or 40kg for 3 sets of 10 times. Even if you only add 2.5kg and do one more rep each time, as long as the stimulation is stronger than before, the muscles will have a reason to grow. Don't do fancy things like super sets and drop sets at the beginning. Novices don't need it at all in the early stage. Comparing basic movements is better than anything else. I saw a guy in the gym a while ago deadlifting 180kg. His waist was arched like a shrimp. Within two seconds of pulling up, he squatted on the ground holding his waist. He lay down for three months before coming back. All the gains he had made after practicing for more than half a year were completely lost. I really can't do it. Injuring yourself just to push the weight is completely putting the cart before the horse.

As the old saying goes, "Practice without replenishment means practice in vain", this is really not nonsense. I have seen too many people practice harder than anyone else, eating salads and boiled vegetables every day, and still losing weight after practicing for half a year. Isn’t this nonsense? The caloric surplus during the muscle-building period does not need to be large, just 300-500 calories more than your daily consumption, which is about the same amount as drinking an extra cup of whole milk and two eggs. Don't eat blindly, just eat braised pork elbows. By then, body fat will increase faster than the muscles, and there will be nothing left after losing weight. There is also controversy about protein intake. Some people say that 1.6g per kilogram is enough, while others say that 3g is necessary. Objectively speaking, 1.6-2.2g is enough for ordinary trainers. If you are 70kg, eat 112-154g of protein every day, which is almost the same. At most, it’s 5 eggs, two palm-sized pieces of chicken breast, and a cup of milk. If you can’t eat so much solid food, just drink protein powder. That thing is a supplement. It’s not a magic medicine or a hormone. It’s just a convenience for you to supplement protein. Don’t listen to those who don’t understand. There is no need to eat chicken breasts, broccoli, and vomit after eating it for two weeks. You can eat peeled and braised chicken legs, beef, fish, and shrimps, as long as you add less oil. Building muscle is not an ascetic in the first place, and it will be of no use if you don't persist.

Many people practice and eat, but they just don't gain weight. Looking back, I wonder if they stay up until two or three o'clock every day to play ranked. You have to know that muscles don't grow in the gym at all, they grow while you sleep - training only tears the muscle fibers, and resting is the process of repair and enlargement. There are also different opinions on sleep duration. Some people say that sleeping for 6 hours will not delay muscle gain. However, the current academic consensus is that 7-9 hours of sleep is the most helpful for muscle synthesis. If you really don’t get enough sleep due to work, you can take 20 minutes at noon to catch up. It is better than spinning all the time.

Oh, by the way, don’t believe in the nonsense of “no pain, no gain”. Soreness after training is not a measure of effectiveness at all. Pain that makes you unable to lift your arms may be just because you haven’t practiced for too long or your movements are wrong. Whether there is progressive overload and whether the weight has moved up is the core. Don’t do hundreds of sit-ups every day to build your abdominal muscles. If your body fat rate doesn’t come down, your abdominal muscles will always be hidden under the fat. During the muscle-building period, don’t worry about those lines. Increase your girth first.

I have been practicing by myself for four years. In the first two years of blind training, my chest hurt every day. My back was so weak that my rounded shoulders and hunched back made it difficult to look good even when I was wearing clothes. Later, I changed my push-pull leg plan and gradually adjusted my diet. I gained 10 pounds of muscle in one year. Now I don’t pursue heavy weights. I keep my movements standard and slowly increase the weight. On the contrary, I rarely get injured. To be honest, there are really not so many bells and whistles about building muscle. If you do the most basic things right and stick to it for half a year, you will definitely see results. Don’t watch those anxious videos about “Building Peng Yuyan’s figure in 3 months” every day. Either you have taken medicine or you have a foundation before. Ordinary people take their time and persist for a long time, which is the best in the end.