Women’s Fitness Tips

There is no one-size-fits-all secret for women's fitness. The plan that can really make you see results and stick to it for a long time must be a personalized choice that adapts to your menstrual cycle, respects the law of muscle growth, and completely matches your daily rhythm. Don't believe those unified templates of "training to get a vest line in 7 days" and "all girls must practice glute bridge", most of which are gimmicks to harvest traffic.

When I say this, I am really not practicing Tai Chi. Last year, the three girls around me who just got into fitness can make up a guide to avoid pitfalls. A man followed an Internet celebrity's recipe to quit carbonation for half a month, but his aunt postponed it for 12 days, and her face turned sallow like an orange that had been sitting for several days. ； Pamela danced for 40 minutes on an empty stomach every day. After three weeks of dancing, her knees hurt so much that she even trembled when walking down the stairs. She went to the hospital to check whether her meniscus was worn. ； There is another one who is even more ruthless. I was given a personal training course worth RMB 20,000 and required myself to practice 5 times a week. However, after just two weeks of persistence, I was disrupted by overtime work on the project. The card expired and I never went back.

There are so many opinions on women’s fitness on the Internet right now. In the area of ​​strength training alone, we can be divided into two groups: One group insists that “women have to train with heavy weights, and light weights are useless.” They say that only progressive overload can stimulate muscle growth and create a curvy butt and smooth shoulder lines.； Another school of thought says, "Women are born with low muscle mass, so it is enough to carve lines with low weights and multiple reps. It is easier to build strength by lifting heavy weights." In fact, there is nothing wrong with both statements. The key depends on what your goal is - if you are already on the thin side and want to develop obvious muscle lines and break through the dimensions, then gradually adding weight is definitely the way to go. ； If you just want to tighten loose fat and improve rounded shoulders and hunchback, and your joints are not good and your exercise foundation is almost zero, then you can first find a sense of strength with a 1kg dumbbell, which can avoid injuries. I used to help my mother make a fitness plan. She had an old knee injury, so I asked her to start practicing leg extensions from a seated position. She did 3 sets of 15 exercises each time. Her knee pain when going up and down stairs was relieved a lot in more than two months. It was much more effective than forcing her to practice squats.

Oh, by the way, many people will ignore that the biggest difference between women’s fitness and men’s fitness is that our physical condition fluctuates with the menstrual cycle. It is a waste of effort to fight against our own hormones. I didn't believe in evil before, and I thought why I couldn't do what others could do. I already had backache and edema during the luteal phase, and I still wanted to achieve my personal best in the deadlift. But as soon as I reached 30kg, my waist collapsed. I lay at home for half a month and couldn't even go to work. It was a huge loss. Later, I checked a lot of information on sports medicine and asked friends in the obstetrics and gynecology department, and I learned that you can actually adjust the plan according to the cycle: the follicular phase has a fast metabolism and good physical strength, so arrange more strength training and weight training. ； After ovulation, you enter the luteal phase, which makes you easily tired and emotionally unstable. So switch to low-intensity yoga and brisk walking. Even if you lie down at home and sleep for two extra days, it doesn't matter. There is no need to feel guilty that "I am lazy if I don't exercise today." After I adjusted in this way, not only did I steadily lose 8 pounds, but my aunt who was not allowed to do it before has also become regular, and even the acne breakouts before menstruation have been reduced a lot.

There are also many people who always say "I don't have time to work out." In fact, there is really no need to spend a whole hour in the gym every day. My colleague is a mother who has to take care of her baby from 9 to 5 and cook, so she can’t squeeze out the whole time to go to the gym, so she uses her spare time to move every day: standing and doing clam pose for 10 minutes while fishing at work, doing a few sets of calf raises on the roadside while picking up her baby from school, and sitting on the sofa to do hip bridges while watching cartoons with her baby in the evening. Just like this, in three months, the width of the fake crotch has shrunk a lot, and jeans that could not fit before can be pulled up easily. Really, fitness is never a "must be". What can be integrated into your life is what you can stick to.

As for diet, there is no need to go to extremes. The most heated debate on the Internet right now is "Should women give up sugar completely for fitness?": One group says that quitting sugar can help you lose weight and have better skin, while the other group says that women are prone to iron deficiency and anemia, and that completely quitting sugar can lead to hypoglycemia, depression, and even amenorrhea. I tried to give up sugar completely for three months, but during that time I wanted to eat everything. After a month of holding back, I ate an entire cream cake and gained three pounds. Later, I adjusted to "less added sugar and eat sweet things in moderation." I replaced my usual milk tea with 30% sugar or no sugar. I ate a small piece of my favorite cheesecake for half a month. Not only did I not gain weight, but I no longer had the urge to binge, and my mood became much more stable. Really, we exercise to make ourselves more comfortable, not to shackle ourselves, right?

After all, is there any "secret" that is universally applicable? No matter how good someone else’s plan is, it’s better to feel more of your own body’s feedback when you practice: Does it hurt when you exert force? After practicing, are you completely exhausted or are you exhausted? Can you stick to it for a long time? Those who can satisfy these three points are your own fitness secrets. After all, we exercise to have a more energetic body, not to live by other people's standards.