Introductory fitness course for beginners

The first thing that novices should understand about fitness is never the internet celebrity training plan, how many sets and times of training capacity, and there is no need to spend money to buy a bunch of protective gear, supplements, and personal training classes when you first get started. They only need to first understand the three basic consensuses of "training priorities, movement tolerance bottom line, and habit development logic", and then implement two general movement frameworks. As long as you are not injured in the first three months and can maintain a training frequency of at least twice a week, you will have surpassed 90% of people who get stuck in the heat of the moment and give up after less than two weeks of practice.

When I first entered the gym, I carried the internet celebrity training plan that I had saved for a week. I followed the leg training plan on the first day, including 10 sets of squats and 5 sets of lunges. After I walked out of the gym, my legs felt weak when I walked down the steps and I sat down on the ground. The cleaning lady helped me up. It makes me crazy to think about it now. At that time, I thought I had worked hard enough, but it took me three full days of rest to recover, and I had to hold on to the handrails when going up and down the stairs.

Whether you should practice aerobics or strength first when you first get started has been a topic that has been debated for many years, and there is still no accurate answer. People who are in the standing aerobics group think that novices generally have poor cardiopulmonary abilities, and when they start to pump iron, they are panting like a bellows before completing a set of movements. Not to mention the deformed movements, practicing for 5 minutes and resting for 10 minutes is a waste of time; In fact, there is really no need to argue, it all depends on your initial needs: If you are here to lose weight from the beginning, it is perfectly fine to step on the elliptical machine for 20 minutes each time to warm up before training in the first two weeks, and then touch strength; if you just want to make your shoulders wider and wear a T-shirt to hold them up, then you can start training directly with light weight strength, and no one will say you are wrong.

I used to take care of a young girl in the same department. When she first applied for the fitness card, she was very excited. She went to the gym every day for a week and practiced for two hours every day. However, after the fifth day of training, her arms were so sore that she couldn't lift them and it was difficult to hold chopsticks. She asked for leave and rested at home for half a month. The fitness card is still collecting dust in her drawer. Really, the biggest taboo in the novice stage is to use too much force. Practice three times a week, 45 minutes to an hour each time is enough. After practicing the same part, you must give it at least 48 hours of rest. You are not a professional, so you cannot meet the attendance standards.

Don’t just stare at the mirror and do bicep curls as soon as you enter the gym, and then pose for half an hour to take photos on social media, it’s really useless. Compound movements are always the most cost-effective choice for beginners. The three major categories of pushing, pulling, and squatting can cover more than 80% of the muscle groups in the body. For pushing, choose kneeling push-ups or light dumbbell chest presses. For pulling, choose elastic band-assisted pull-ups or high pull-downs. For squatting, start with bare-handed squats or empty bar squats. If you practice these three movements honestly for three months, the changes in your body shape will definitely be more obvious than if you change fancy movements every day. Oh, by the way, don’t try to lift heavy weights. If your movements become deformed, quickly reduce the weight. I just met a young man in the gym last month. His waist flashed when he deadlifted heavy weights. He pulled away at 120, so he couldn’t do it.

Many people ask newbies whether they should hire a personal trainer, which is also polarizing. People who think it is useful are those who have just started and someone is watching you to correct your movements. The probability of getting into trouble is much smaller and the efficiency is really high. Those who think it is IQ tax are mostly those who have met the kind of sales-oriented personal trainers who are not as good at practice as members and spend half of a class chatting with you about home-made lessons. If you really want to hire me, just buy 3-5 classes first, and tell the coach clearly that you will teach me the standard postures of the three movements of squats, chest presses, and high pull-downs. You don’t need to teach me anything else. You can practice it by yourself after learning, which is the most cost-effective. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have enough budget. There are a lot of action instructions given by serious sports bloggers on Bilibili and Douyin. When practicing, you can film your own actions in the mirror and compare them with standard videos. You can basically find the right feeling of exertion by changing it three or five times. There is no need to dare to go to the gym just because you can’t afford a personal trainer.

As for diet and supplements, novices don’t need to count calories and macronutrients. In the end, their heads will get too big and they won’t want to practice anymore. Just remember the most basic things: drink less sugary drinks like milk tea and cola, and eat more eggs, milk, and lean meat every day, which is much more useful than buying nitrogen pumps and creatine. Oh, by the way, there is also protein powder. Many people think it is a hormone, and they will lose muscle after eating it. It is really not the case. Protein powder is concentrated milk protein. If you can eat 1 egg + 2 cartons of milk + 2 taels of lean meat every day, you don’t need to drink it at all. If you usually eat takeout at work and don’t consume enough protein, drinking a spoonful of protein powder is easier than eating ten egg whites. It is neither a magic medicine nor a scourge, and it goes without saying that it will change your appearance.

I have been practicing for almost 6 years, and I have seen too many people who enthusiastically bought a lot of professional fitness clothes, protective gear, and supplements at the beginning, and then stopped doing anything within two weeks. On the contrary, those who just started wearing an old T-shirt, practiced three movements every time they went to the gym, and took a shower and left after practicing. Mimi persisted for several years. Fitness is a matter of pleasing yourself. You are not competing in a competition. There is no need to push yourself too hard at the beginning. If you finish practicing today and feel that you are still willing to come tomorrow, you have already won.