Principles of home fitness

The core is to grasp three underlying logics - give priority to content that completely matches your current status, minimize the risk of injury before discussing the effect. Light training that can be sustained for a long time is far better than a three-day sudden and intense training for fishing. All the remaining techniques are extensions of these three logics, and there is no "universal standard answer" that must be followed.

A while ago, I helped the 62-year-old Aunt Zhang downstairs adjust her training plan. She heard from her old sisters that Pamela burned fat quickly, and after dancing for three days, her knees hurt and she couldn't go downstairs. She went to the hospital to take a film and said that her meniscus was a bit worn. Later, I switched her to ankle pumps that can be done while sitting, seated elastic band abduction, and Baduanjin exercises for 10 minutes every morning and evening. She persisted for two months. Last week, she met me and said that not only did her knees no longer hurt, but the backache she had suffered all year round has been mostly cured, and her sleep quality has also improved. This actually corresponds to the core adaptability issue: There have been two schools of thought in the fitness circle that have been arguing for many years. The strength training school insists that you must have dumbbells and kettlebells at home and practice moderate intensity for 150 minutes a week to be effective. The sports rehabilitation school believes that as long as you can break the sedentary state, even if you stand on tiptoe 10 times more every time you stand to collect water, it is valuable. In fact, both sides are right, but they are suitable for completely different people - if you have two or three years of exercise foundation, doing strength training for 40 minutes three times a week will certainly be the most profitable. If you are tired even going downstairs to pick up the express delivery, don't force the training time. Start by standing for 10 minutes more every day and less slumped on the sofa scrolling through your mobile phone. There is really no shame.

Oh, by the way, an objective data that many people don’t know is that it is clearly mentioned in the exercise guide for Chinese residents that the risk of injury when exercising at home is actually about 30% higher than going to the gym because the space is limited and there is no professional coach to correct the movements immediately. Last month, I saw several netizens posting that they were practicing burpees following the live broadcast. They jumped hard without warming up, and their ankles were sprained for half a month and they couldn't get off the ground. Some people were so hard on squats that they accumulated fluid in their knees, which was not worth the gain. Therefore, low risk should really be put before the effect. Different people have different habits when it comes to warming up: some people think that they must first spend 10 minutes doing a full set of dynamic stretching to activate all the joints, while others think that as long as they shake their arms and roll their eyes before practicing, and do not force themselves to the point of pain when doing each movement, there is no problem with either option. The core thing is not to believe in the nonsense that "pain means fat is burning" - muscle soreness is normal. As long as you feel pain or numbness in your joints, stop and rest immediately, and don't force yourself.

I also encountered pitfalls when the epidemic was under lockdown. At the beginning, I ambitiously set a plan to practice for one hour a day, and spent a lot of money to buy dumbbells, yoga mats, and abdominal fitness wheels. However, after persisting for three days, I fell completely flat, and the equipment was gathering dust in the corner for two months. Later, I felt really depressed, so I changed to standing and dancing to the nostalgic disco music of station B for 20 minutes every day after dinner. I didn’t have to remember the moves, I could rock as much as I wanted. After two months of rocking like this, I didn’t lose much weight, but my body fat rate dropped by 2%. The mild fatty liver disease that was diagnosed during last year’s physical examination has improved a lot. There are always people in the fitness circle who say that "training without a plan is just training in vain", but for most ordinary people who just want to stay healthy, "training that can be sustained" is 100 times more effective than "a perfect but impossible plan". It's great if you have strong self-control and can strictly follow the plan. But if you really don't have the perseverance, even if you just think about it and do 5 squats every day, or stand and watch videos for 10 minutes, it's better than hoarding a bunch of equipment and never using it.

In fact, after all, home fitness is just for convenience. There is no need to put so many shackles on yourself. Don't compare your exercise intensity with people in your circle of friends, and don't force yourself to do movements that you can't hold just to make a check-in video. After practicing, you will feel comfortable and able to persist for a long time, which is better than anything else. Oh, by the way, if you can just put your yoga mat away after practicing, your family conflicts will be reduced by half - don’t ask me how I know that.