What is the difference between men’s fitness and muscle building?

The core difference is actually the affiliation - muscle gain is a branch among many goals of male fitness. The two are not the same concept at all. The desires of most men when they first get into fitness are not even related to muscle gain.

I helped my colleagues in the company do an introductory fitness program two years ago. Seven out of ten people who came to ask wanted either "no back pain after sitting for a long time" or "a smaller belly to look good in a suit." The remaining three said they wanted to build some muscles. After two months of training, they found it troublesome, so they fell back to moving casually twice a week. Just like the programmer guy who practiced back training with me last week, his weight has not moved at all after practicing for almost a year, but the lumbar prolapse that was so painful that he couldn't straighten his waist has never happened again. He doesn't have to lie on the sofa for two hours to recover after work. This is the most typical ordinary fitness. With his small amount of training and casual eating habits, he can't reach the threshold of muscle gain at all, and he himself has no need for this.

Nowadays, many bloggers on the Internet directly equate fitness with muscle gain and fat loss, which makes many people think that not developing obvious muscle lines is equivalent to practicing in vain. In fact, there have been different opinions in the circle. After all, powerlifters pursue the three major weights, street athletes pursue unlocking various fancy moves, and some people even exercise just to climb Mount Taishan without being out of breath, or to play with their children and walk around for an afternoon without getting tired. These are all in the category of fitness, and muscle gain is only one of the subdivided goals that clearly points to the growth of muscle mass.

If we really want to be honest about the difference in behavioral patterns between the two, the core is that the strictness of goal orientation is very different. Ordinary fitness is basically done as you feel comfortable. If you have a great workout today, you can stop by for a barbecue without feeling guilty. If you are busy with overtime work this week, you can stop training for three or four days without feeling anxious. It is essentially a way to adjust your life. But those who really want to build muscle must limit their protein intake to 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight. They must follow what the industry calls progressive overload when training. They must slowly increase the weight, number of sets, and reps. Even when sleeping, they must try to ensure more than 7 hours of deep sleep every day, otherwise all training will be in vain. Last year, I took care of a junior who was preparing to compete in a college bodybuilding competition. During the three months of preparations for the competition, he had to choose sugar-free milk tea with double protein. He practiced four times every day. Even when making a date with friends, he had to check the calories of the food in the restaurant. Compared with ordinary people who go to the gym after get off work, sweat for half an hour and then leave, they have completely different living conditions.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the relationship between the two is like running and running a marathon. If you usually run two kilometers around the community after get off work to get some air, it is running. In order to run a marathon every day, stretching the distance, controlling the pace, and counting supplies are also running. No one is more noble. It just depends on what you want. If you just want to move for comfort and don't want to be kidnapped by the saying "must gain muscle", and if you just like the feeling of muscles filling up your T-shirt, then it's fine to follow the requirements of muscle gain. No matter what choice you make, you are right.