Introductory fitness training for novices

The core logic for newbies to get started with fitness is not to just memorize the 5-part training table and rush heavy weights to achieve PR, but to spend 1-2 months to first "calibrate the movement pattern", "weld the training habit 3-4 times a week" and "smooth the basic diet structure". If these three steps are done correctly, you will gain more muscle and lose more fat than if you practiced blindly for half a year, and you can also avoid 80% of novice sports injuries.

Two years ago, I took care of a junior student who had just graduated. He was 180cm tall and weighed 180kg. I saved two months’ salary to get a fitness card. He followed the online training plan for professional athletes. On the first day of training, he held his chest and pushed hard on the Smith bar. The weight added was more than that of a veteran member who had been practicing for a year. He couldn’t lift his shoulders that night. I went to the hospital to check that he had a slight rotator cuff strain. After resting for two months, I didn’t go back a few times when the fitness card expired. It was a waste of money and suffering.

In fact, the fitness circle has been arguing for almost ten years about whether novices should use fixed equipment or free weights. Both sides have reasons. If you don't like to move at all, and you struggled to take physical tests when you were in school, and your coordination is so poor that you can't even push up buttocks when doing push-ups, then you really don't have to hold on to the barbell, just use fixed equipment to feel the force first. The trajectory of fixed equipment is locked, and even if your core is not stable, there will be no major movement deformation, such as Smith's chest press and Hack Deep. Practice squats and seated rowing movements for 1-2 weeks first. Don't just count every time you do them. Stop and feel the contraction of the target muscles. For example, when you press the chest, you can feel the chest muscles being stretched and then tightened. When you squat, you can feel the force on the front of the thigh. When you can feel the force without thinking about it, it is not too late to try free weights again. If you usually like to play ball or run in the mountains, and your coordination is already good, then it is no problem to start directly with the empty bar squat, empty bar bench press, and assisted pull-ups. On the contrary, you can build core stability faster and progress faster in the future.

While figuring out the action patterns, what is most easily overlooked by novices is habit formation. Many people are so enthusiastic that the first week they apply for a card, they go to the gym for two hours every day until they are shaking when they walk. As a result, their whole body hurts at the end of the week, so they just take a break for half a month. When they think about going to the gym, they almost forget where they put their card. It's really not necessary. The training goal in the novice stage is never to train to failure, but to first establish the conditioned reflex of "go to the gym when the time comes". I had a former student who initially set himself 5 days of training per week and required himself to practice for 1.5 hours each time. However, he collapsed after holding on for 9 days and lay at home for almost a month without moving. Later he changed it to once a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and practiced for 40 minutes each time, even if it was not possible that day. If he wants to practice, he can change his clothes and go to the gym to run for 10 minutes, touch the equipment twice and then walk. With such low requirements, he has been persisting for almost a year and a half. His body fat has dropped from 27 to 18, the fat on his belly is gone, and he has developed vague abdominal muscles. The effect is much better than the initial sprint.

As for the food issue that everyone is most concerned about, there is no need to go to extremes. There are two kinds of voices on the Internet arguing fiercely now. One school says that novices must eat strictly clean, boil chicken breasts and broccoli every day, and calculate the calories to one decimal place. ； The other group says that novices don’t need to worry about eating, they should practice first and then talk about it. In fact, both are too extreme. I have seen too many people who are boiled in water. 90% of them can't survive for one month. Then they turn around and drink milk tea to retaliate and overeat. Instead, they become even fatter than before. ； It doesn't matter if you don't eat at all. If you go to have a barbecue after training, the calories you consumed will be directly replenished, which is equivalent to practicing in vain. In fact, you don’t need to count calories in such detail when you are a novice. You only need to change 3 small habits first: replace your daily milk tea and cola with sugar-free or plain water, eat an extra punch-sized amount of protein at each meal (eggs, chicken, fish, shrimp, and soy products are included), and don’t touch high-fat and high-salt foods such as barbecued fried chicken after 9 pm. Just stick to these three things and you will see obvious changes for a month. Once your training habits are stable, it is not too late to slowly calculate the amounts of the three major nutrients.

There are also a few common misunderstandings that novices often make. Don’t stare at the scale every day. Novices have a benefit period. Muscle grows faster than fat is lost. You have not lost one or two pounds after practicing for a month, but your waistline is three or four centimeters smaller and your pants are a lot looser. This is normal. Weight is really not as important as you think. As for supplements, you really don’t need to rush to buy anything except protein powder. Protein powder is simply a convenient protein supplement. If you can eat enough meat and eggs during normal meals, it’s totally fine if you don’t drink it. There are things like nitrogen pumps, creatine, testicle stimulation, etc. In the novice stage, your nerve recruitment ability has not reached that level, and drinking it will not have any obvious effects. It is a pure waste of money.

In fact, there are really not so many thresholds when it comes to fitness, and there aren't that many black and white rules. The biggest fear when you are a novice is thinking too much and doing too little. Today I saw this blogger saying that 5 points is good, and tomorrow I saw that blogger saying minimalist training is effective. I struggled for half a month, saved dozens of G of training tutorials, and never stepped into the gym door once. Really, why not wear comfortable sneakers and bring a water bottle to the gym tomorrow? Even if you just run for 20 minutes and touch the equipment a few times, it will be more useful than lying in bed struggling with what plan to use, right?