fitness exercise tips

The vast majority of people take detours in fitness, have no results or even get injured. The core skills are never how expensive a personal trainer is to find or how much weight to hit. Instead, they first get the basic movement patterns right, and then adapt the training rhythm and recovery plan according to their own goals and physical conditions. The rest of the Internet celebrity methods and quick plans are all icing on the cake.

Last week at the gym, I met a young man who had just been training for two months. When he bench-pressed, his shoulders were so high that they were almost touching his ears. He gritted his teeth and added weights to the barbell. He came back the next day after training with a plaster in hand, saying that his shoulders were so painful that he couldn't lift them. In fact, it’s not that he lacks willpower, but that the movement logic is fundamentally wrong - the bench press is originally for chest training, and he relies entirely on his shoulders and arms. The heavier the weight, the more severe the injury. Speaking of this, I have to mention that there is no standard answer to the action patterns for different training goals. Don’t blame others for their mistakes based on one standard: the bench press in the powerlifting system is to lift the bridge and push the ground to use the strength of the lower limbs to pursue the maximum weight. ； On the contrary, the bodybuilding-style bench press requires keeping the shoulders and chest as low as possible, reducing the involvement of the lower limbs, and giving priority to isolating the chest muscles. The goals of the two methods are different, and the movement requirements are naturally very different. Just choose the one that suits your goals.

Don’t tell me, I’ve really stepped on big holes in squats before. At that time, my knees always hurt after squatting. I thought it was because my knees were weak. I bought two thick knee pads and it still hurt. I went to three coaches. One said that I need to train my gluteus medius to buckle my knees in. Another said that I needed to use corrective insoles for my collapsed arches. Another rehabilitation therapist saw the training video I took and said that I squatted too deep and exceeded the range of motion of my hip joints. When I press hard, I rely on my knees to compensate. Later, I tried one by one. I put a two-centimeter small barbell on my heels, turned my toes 15 degrees outward, and squatted until my thighs were parallel to the ground. After practicing for two weeks, the knee pain disappeared immediately. Really, no matter how good other people's standard movements are, it is not as important as your own pain-free and muscle-strength feeling when you do it yourself.

Another point that many people tend to overlook is breathing. Don’t underestimate this exhalation and inhalation, as the effect may be half as bad. Just breathe normally abdominally when training with light weights. Exhale when exerting force and inhale when recovering. Don't hold your breath and carry it hard. If you are doing heavy deadlifts or squats, you have to use the Watt-style breathing: before exerting force, take a breath to tighten your core, as if you have a ball in your stomach. Don't let go during the entire movement, and then exhale after you finish. This is still controversial. Many coaches in the CrossFit system require even the regular group to use Watts breathing to keep the core stable and avoid hurting the waist. However, rehabilitation practitioners generally believe that it is not necessary to hold in the breath all the time with small weights, but it is easy to raise the blood pressure too high. People with cardiovascular problems, especially, need to pay special attention. Try it by yourself and adjust if you feel uncomfortable.

Don’t just start practicing for two weeks and learn those fancy Internet celebrity moves, such as Bulgarian split squats plus twists, kettlebell swings and presses. It’s like you didn’t understand the second subject of reversing and parking, and went straight to drifting on a mountain road. It would be weird if you didn’t crash. I have seen too many people walking unsteadily while squatting with bare hands. They also carried two 20kg dumbbells to add weight. After squatting, their backs hurt and they grinned. It was really unacceptable. Take the most basic biceps curl as an example. Holding the eccentric phase for 2 seconds is better than throwing it upwards 10 times. If you don’t believe me, try it next time. If your arms are so sore the next day that you can’t lift them up, then you have really reached the point of practice.

Oh, by the way, don’t just focus on honing the skills, there are also deep ways to recover. I once had a friend who went to the gym every day and worked out to exhaustion every time. As a result, he didn't lose weight or gain muscle for two months. When I asked him, I found out that he only slept 5 hours a day, didn't stretch after training, and would go home and play games until midnight after taking a shower. There are also different opinions about post-workout stretching: One group says that doing static stretching immediately after training will affect muscle explosiveness. Instead, you should do dynamic relaxation such as foam rolling first, and then stretch after a few hours. ； The other group believes that as long as the stretching intensity is appropriate, stretching at any time can relieve muscle tension and reduce delayed onset soreness. There is also the issue of intervals between sets. Traditional muscle-building theory says that resting for 60-90 seconds is enough. Now new research says that resting for 3 minutes on heavy compound movements will have better muscle growth effects. Some fitness enthusiasts who like a pumping feeling like to rest for 30 seconds. There is nothing wrong with the muscles being swollen after exercise. Just choose based on your own training goals.

In fact, when it comes down to it, is there any one-size-fits-all fitness technique? If you want to improve your strength performance, just follow the powerlifting method to hone your movements and slowly increase the weight. ； If you want to look good in clothes, look for muscle strength. Controlling your diet is more effective than practicing blindly. ； Even if you just want to move and sweat, walk briskly around the neighborhood twice after get off work every day, or do a few sets of anal lifts while fishing at work, these are all good techniques for you. It’s better than lying down and watching ten fitness videos and then turning around and ordering milk tea takeaway, right?