How to take an introductory fitness class for beginners

The first thing that novices should do in an introductory fitness class is not a differentiated training plan or sweaty aerobics, but a complete body function assessment and correct basic movement patterns. Failure to do so will lead to detours in the future.

A while ago, I taught a boy who had just started working. He followed an online 7-day slimming class for a week. His knees hurt so much that he was shaking when he went up and down the stairs. In the first class, I asked him to do squats with bare hands. I could tell at a glance that his arches were collapsed and his knees were buckled in. He relied entirely on his joints to produce strength. He didn’t do anything in that class. He spent the whole class just adjusting the position of his feet in front of the mirror and practicing how to use his hips to generate force. In the second class, when he squatted again, he said that his knees didn’t hurt at all.

Nowadays, there is quite a debate on the Internet about what to include in introductory classes. One group says to build up physical fitness first, and arrange aerobic exercises in the first few sessions to push the heart and lungs up. The other group says to go directly to strength and build up muscle mass first as the foundation. In fact, both of these statements are correct. It all depends on your assessment of the basic situation - if you usually sit for so long that you can't even climb two floors until you are wheezing and coughing, then the first two classes must be interspersed with low-intensity elliptical machines and brisk walking to help you find exercise.

When I first started working out, I encountered a pitfall. The first coach I found asked me to stand on a body measuring machine. He pointed at the report and said that my body fat percentage was 3 points higher than the standard. In the first class, I was asked to run for 20 minutes and then add 3 sets of light weight bench presses. After the chest training, I didn’t feel any soreness in my arms for three days. Later, I changed a coach. He didn't even enter the equipment area in the first class. He asked me to stand barefoot in the functional area for five minutes. To see if my shoulders were high or rounded, he asked me to do a few leaning-down paddling movements. It was immediately obvious that I didn't do it right. Every time I raised my hand, my trapezius muscle compensated. In that class, I practiced shoulder sinking and how to use my back to exert force. Later, I never got a sore neck from practicing my back.

There are also many people who think that there is no need to spend money to find a coach for introductory courses, and they can just follow the videos and learn by themselves. I don’t refute this. I have a programmer friend next to me who likes to ponder these things. He read the popular science of sports anatomy for half a month, and did squats for a week in front of slow-motion videos and in the mirror. His movements are more standard than many members who have taken ten classes. But if you look in the mirror and can't tell whether your knees are buckled in or not, and you don't know whether it's thigh soreness or backache after leg training, then I really recommend you find a reliable coach for two or three sessions, and don't regret it after you get injured after training. Think about it, the cost of surgery for a worn meniscus is much more expensive than a few introductory classes.

Not long ago, I met a young girl born in 2000. She took four introductory classes seriously and mastered all the squatting, pushing and pulling movements. Now she has been practicing in the gym for two months, and her body shape has changed more obviously than many people who have practiced blindly for half a year. In fact, the introductory class is really nothing fancy. The core is to help you understand what your body is like and how to exert force without hurting others. Once you understand this, whether you practice by yourself or follow the class, you can avoid a lot of detours.