What is the relationship between male fitness and muscle gain?

To put it bluntly, scientific targeted fitness is the only controllable core requirement for men to gain muscle. Without fitness stimulation that conforms to the logic of muscle gain, even if supplements are taken as meals and slept 12 hours a day, it is impossible to grow considerable muscle mass. However, conversely, not all fitness behaviors can lead to muscle gain. If the direction is wrong, it may lead to muscle loss.

Two years ago, I met a young brother who had just graduated from the gym. He would come as soon as possible every day. He would run for 40 minutes to do aerobics, then do two sets of dumbbell curls, and then take a shower. After practicing for three months, he came to me to complain, saying that he drank protein powder and slept enough, his arm circumference did not increase at all, and he lost 3 pounds. This is not a typical example of not understanding the relationship between the two, and the fitness content he created did not focus on the point of building muscle. Muscle building is essentially a process of creating tiny tears in muscle fibers through resistance training, and then achieving excessive recovery through nutritional supplements and rest. The dimensions of muscle fibers gradually become larger. Men are naturally born with higher testosterone levels, and the efficiency of muscle fiber synthesis is much higher than that of women. But the premise is that you have to provide enough corresponding stimulation, otherwise it will be useless no matter how talented you are.

There are still two factions arguing fiercely on the Internet. One faction says "you will grow muscles as long as you move", and the other faction says "you have to press heavy weights to build muscles." In fact, both opinions are a bit extreme. During the benefits period for newbies who are new to fitness, even if you do thirty or forty push-ups at home every day, you will indeed see an increase in the dimensions of your chest muscles and arms. However, this wave of benefits will last for 3 to 6 months at most. When your body adapts to the stimulation intensity, you will not adjust the training mode to add weight and capacity before training again. It's hard to make a change in a year, but that doesn't mean you have to push the maximum weight to death. Last month, I saw an older brother bend his waist in order to PR in the deadlift. He lay down for two months and couldn't train anything. The muscle mass he had saved for half a year lost almost half. This is because the fitness level was not controlled well, but it had the opposite effect.

I also encountered pitfalls when I first started practicing. I felt that the more frequently I practiced, the better the effect. I went to the gym 7 days a week and wanted to practice every part of my body every day. As a result, after two months of training, not only did I not gain muscle, I suffered from insomnia every day and lost my hair. I went to check and found that my cortisol was ridiculously high. On the contrary, I lost a lot of testosterone. Later, I listened to the coach and adjusted to training 4 days a week. I rested for at least 48 hours after practicing each part. I slowly increased the weight and tried to make the movements as standard as possible. In two months, my arm circumference increased by 1.2 centimeters, and my bench press increased by 15 kilograms. There are also people who say that they don’t need to exercise and can grow muscles by taking some protein powder or supplements. They are simply deceived by supplement sellers. You don’t have muscle tear gaps caused by fitness. The protein you eat is either used for daily consumption or converted into fat for storage. Even half a dime will not turn into muscles. If you really want to grow muscles without doing anything, you can only use anabolic drugs, which needless to say harm to the body.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the relationship between male fitness and muscle gain is like boiling water. You have to aim the fire at the bottom of the pot and boil it for enough time before it can be boiled. If the fire is too small, it will burn for a long time without any movement. If the fire is too high, it will easily cause trouble when the water is boiled dry. Only by finding the right matching rhythm can you get the muscle-building effect you want.