Tutorial on how to use home fitness equipment

Ordinary people do not need to buy more than 3 pieces of equipment for home fitness. The combination of "adjustable dumbbells + non-slip yoga mats + woven elastic bands" can cover more than 90% of the needs for muscle gain, fat loss, and body adjustment. The risk of sports injuries caused by incorrect use of equipment is the norm. 3.7 times the usage (this data comes from the 2023 home fitness injury survey data of the Department of Sports Rehabilitation of Beijing Sport University). The vast majority of people buy equipment that collects dust, has no effect after practicing, or even gets injured. The essence is that it does not match their own training foundation, equipment characteristics and training goals.

Don’t underestimate this thin mat. I have stepped on more pitfalls than anyone else in the past two years. At that time, I followed a blogger and bought a 4mm natural rubber mat, which was said to be a professional yoga mat. I danced on it for 40 minutes every day doing Pamela’s high-impact exercises. After dancing for half a month, my knees hurt and I had to go up and down stairs. I went to the doctor. The hospital took a film and said that the meniscus was slightly worn. The rehabilitation therapist scolded me, saying that this kind of thin mat is for static training and yoga vinyasa and does not absorb shock at all. High-impact training requires at least 10mm of NBR mat or a layer of old carpet underneath. I have to mention here that different schools in the yoga circle have completely different requirements for yoga mats. There is no so-called "universal mat": practitioners of the Iyengar school generally prefer TPE mats above 8mm, which are thick enough and will not hurt the spine and joints when doing movements such as bridge poses and shoulderstands. ； Fans of Ashtanga and Vinyasa flow yoga prefer 3-5mm natural rubber mats, which have strong grip and will not slip when doing jumping vinyasa and downward dog pose. You don’t need to follow bloggers and buy them randomly. You should first think about what you spend 90% of your time practicing before starting.

Now that I understand the pad issue, let’s talk about the adjustable dumbbells that I think are the most cost-effective. I also bought a pair of 5kg fixed dumbbells before, but after practicing for two months, they were too light and left them gathering dust on the balcony. Later, I replaced them with snap-on adjustable ones, which can be switched freely from 2kg to 24kg. I can use 12kg for shoulder presses, and my mother uses 2kg for arm curls. One set is equivalent to ten or more pairs of fixed dumbbells, which actually saves money. There must be some fitness veterans here who want to gain weight, saying that adjustable dumbbells are not as stable as fixed ones, and chest presses with heavy weights tend to wobble. This is actually true. Competitors in the powerlifting circle need to start bench pressing at least 20kg. The adjustable dumbbell buckle is indeed prone to the risk of loosening, but for 95% of ordinary home trainers, a bench press of 15kg is considered a very good level, and it cannot reach a weight where the buckle is unstable. Friends around me who run personal training studios recommend that novices start with the adjustable model at home, and it is not too late to change to a fixed one when they really need a heavy weight. By the way, don’t buy adjustable dumbbells with screws. I bought a pair on the cheap before. To adjust the weight, I had to turn four screws. It took three minutes, and I rested for only one minute between sets. When I adjusted the weight, all the muscles that had been congested earlier had rested. The snap-on version is the most practical. You can change the weight with a click of a second. When doing shoulder training, you can lower it from 5kg to 2kg to do rear flyes. You can adjust it by raising your hand, which is very convenient. There is another mistake that many people make: doing "arm swing exercises" with dumbbells to say goodbye to fat. I just accompanied my colleague to see her shoulder injury last week, and she did it for half a month. The acromion impingement hurt so much that she couldn't lift her arms. The correct method is to sink the shoulders, tighten the core, and keep the forearms vertical to the dumbbells. When doing lateral raises, it should not exceed shoulder height. This can train the middle deltoid muscles without injuring the shoulders.

Oh, by the way, there is also an elastic band that many people look down upon. I used to think it was a gadget for girls to train their buttocks. Until I injured my back when I pulled too hard last month, the rehabilitation doctor asked me to use a 15-pound woven elastic band to do seated rowing to find a sense of strength. It is much more accurate than using light dumbbells. Now I use it to activate the target muscles before doing formal sets, and the warm-up efficiency is more than doubled. In fact, the usage of elastic bands varies greatly. If you want to increase the weight of squats and improve your buttocks, the strength coach will usually ask you to put the elastic bands above your knees. When doing squats, actively push your knees outwards to stimulate the gluteus medius muscle to exert force. The squat will be more stable and less sore. ； If you want to improve your XO-shaped legs and walk inwardly, the rehabilitation therapist will ask you to put elastic bands on your ankles and do side steps, focusing more on activating the stabilizing muscles near the ankles. No one is right or wrong, it all depends on your training goals. Oh, by the way, don’t buy those transparent rubber elastic bands that only cost a few yuan. I bought one on the cheap before, and it suddenly broke when I was practicing seated rowing.

Many people sent me private messages asking me if they can buy Internet-famous equipment such as abdominal wheels and smart hula hoops? I really advise novices not to try the abdominal fitness wheel. When I first used it, my core was weak. I jumped forward and hit the ground with my chin, which required two stitches. There is still a small scar. Unless you can steadily complete 20 standard abdominal crunches, you can start practicing with the kneeling abdominal fitness wheel. Don’t stand up straight from the beginning. This is purely for abuse. There is also the smart hula hoop that my mother bought following the trend. It was said that it would not fall off. After spinning for a month, the waist circumference did not decrease, and three bruises were broken on the waist by the gravity ball. It is really not as reliable as ordinary hula hoops or practicing Russian twists.

In fact, you don’t really need to collect any “equipment for the whole family” to exercise at home. My big brother who has been practicing for six or seven years relies on these three things at home, and his figure is much better than that of someone who has an annual pass and only goes to take a shower. To put it bluntly, equipment is auxiliary. It is much better for you to use it first and slowly explore the usage that suits you than to accumulate a pile of equipment and let it gather dust, right?