Home fitness plan

For the vast majority of ordinary people who just want to improve their posture, lose belly fat, and increase their daily energy, there is no need to buy thousands of yuan of equipment or allocate a whole block of free time. If you practice home fitness 3-4 times a week for 30-45 minutes each time, you can see visible changes for 6 weeks - your body fat rate will drop by 2-3 points, shoulder, neck and lower back pain caused by sitting for a long time will be relieved by 70%, and you won't be out of breath after climbing five or six floors.

Speaking of which, I stepped on more pits than I did sets. In the first half of the month, I was so excited that I stocked up on yoga mats, adjustable dumbbells, elastic bands, and even a small trampoline. As a result, they were all piled up on the balcony to collect dust. At that time, I set a goal of practicing for 1 hour a day, but I failed in the first week. After working overtime for three days, I just wanted to slump on the sofa and eat takeout when I got home. I felt that if I didn't achieve the goal, I would just break it, so I stopped for almost half a month.

Later, after talking to friends in the fitness circle, I realized that the core of home fitness is not "how hard you practice", but "how to persevere without any effort." If you just want to lose fat and move your stiff shoulders, you don’t need any equipment, just do bodyweight training: jumping jacks, squats, planks, kneeling push-ups, a cycle of four movements, do each for 40 seconds, rest for 20 seconds, and do 6 sets. It only takes about 20 minutes. If you still feel energetic, you can add 10 minutes of Pamela's Happy Aerobics. When I practice, I usually play a drama I haven't finished watching as the background sound. I take a break between sets to glance at the plot. The time goes by very quickly, and I don't feel overwhelmed at all. Oh, by the way, if you really don’t want to move, you can just stand and check your phone for half an hour. It’s better than slumping on the sofa with your cervical spine cradled.

If you want to practice some lines, wear suspenders or look better in shirts, then just spend 20 to 30 yuan to buy a pair of 2-5kg plastic-impregnated dumbbells. There is no need to buy an adjustable model that costs hundreds of dollars. The pair I bought on Xixi have been used for almost a year and the paint has not peeled off. For shoulder training, do lateral raises and front raises, for back training, do bent-over rows, and for leg training, do dumbbell squats. Find an intensity of 12RM for each movement (that is, do 12 reps of the weight just right to failure) and do 4 groups. Do strength training twice a week and do aerobic training once. You will see your shoulder lines appear in two months, and your rounded shoulders will also improve a lot. The girl in the department next to me, 165, weighed 110 kilograms before. She practiced at this pace and lost 6 centimeters in waist circumference in three months. She can still fit a palm into her previously tight suit pants.

Nowadays, two factions are arguing fiercely on the Internet. One faction says that home fitness is purely based on IQ. Without heavy weights and personal protection, it is impossible to effectively build muscle. There is nothing wrong with this statement. If your goal is to develop obvious four-pack abs and an arm circumference of over 35cm, then you really have to go to the gym to train heavy weights. The upper limit of home conditions is set here, and it cannot meet the needs of professional muscle building.； But the other group says that home fitness is very cost-effective. You don’t have to spend thousands to apply for a membership card or spend half an hour on the road. You can just change your clothes and practice. For the 90% of ordinary people who just want to be “comfortable and look good in clothes”, it is completely enough. Several colleagues around me have applied for gym memberships for less than 10 times in the past two years. Now they practice at home and have persisted for almost half a year.

I will also tell you a few pitfalls that I have stepped on to remind everyone. Don’t buy a yoga mat that is too thin. A yoga mat above 10mm is just right. Otherwise, if you do burpees, your neighbors will come up with fruits and knock on the door. Don’t ask me how I know. Last month, I just gave two boxes of strawberries to the aunt downstairs to apologize.； If you have bad knees, don’t force yourself to do burpees or squat jumps. Instead, walk slowly, raise your legs high, and squat quietly against the wall. The effect is almost the same and it won’t hurt your joints. ； Don't practice on an empty stomach. I did gymnastics without breakfast on weekends. After dancing for 15 minutes, my eyes turned black and I almost fell to the coffee table. I ate half a banana before practicing again.

Also, don’t set too high goals at the beginning. The rule I have set for myself now is that even if I only want to move for 10 minutes when I get home today, it will be considered as completing the training plan for the day, which is better than lying down. Really, don’t think about fitness too complicated. When you practice at home, you don’t need to have those fancy rituals. You don’t have to wear professional fitness clothes. You can still practice in an old T-shirt and big shorts. A plan that you can stick to is a really useful plan.