Home fitness and muscle gain

Without a gym or professional equipment, ordinary people can still steadily gain muscle through home training - as long as you grasp the three cores of "progressive load + sufficient calories/protein + regular rest", it is completely achievable to accumulate 3-5 pounds of pure muscle in 3 months. Those who say "it is impossible to gain muscle at home" have either never tried systematic home training, or they have applied the standards of professional bodybuilders to ordinary enthusiasts.

During the three months of my own lockdown in 2022, I only had a pair of 20kg adjustable dumbbells, a yoga mat worth tens of dollars, and not even a squat rack. My arm circumference still increased from 33cm to 35.5cm, and my body fat rate remained stable at 15%. I don’t mean to brag about my talent. I have seen too many people put off by the saying "you can’t build muscles without heavy weight" and are unwilling to even try.

Regarding the planning and arrangement of home training, there are actually two schools of thought in the fitness circle that have completely different ideas, and no one can convince the other. Fans of old-school bodyweight training will think that if you don’t have a lot of weight at home, you should do high-frequency full-body differentiation. Practice 4-5 times a week, going through the chest, back, legs, shoulders, arms, and core every time. Do 3-4 groups of each movement, and control each group within the muscle-building range of 8-12RM. That’s right. It’s especially friendly to newbies. You don’t have to memorize complex movement arrangements, and you won’t be so painful that you can’t walk downstairs after practicing. I practiced this way in the first two weeks of the lockdown. I did standard push-ups, dumbbell rows, and kettlebell squats in turn. It took 40 minutes to complete each session. I found my strength very quickly. However, some advanced players who have been practicing for more than a year feel that the stimulation of the whole body is not deep enough. It is better to use a three-point push-pull leg training. Pushing (chest, shoulders, triceps), pulling (back, biceps), and legs are practiced separately. Practice 3 times a week. Each part can fit in more variations, and there is more room for improvement. I later adapted to the weight and also changed this mode. Push-ups were changed from standard to wide, weight-bearing, incline, and decline. The stimulation of the shoulders was indeed much better than before.

In fact, no matter which plan you choose, the core is progressively loaded. To put it bluntly, you have to slowly put pressure on the muscles. Don't do 10 standard push-ups today, but still do 10 next month. The muscles have already adapted and will not grow at all. You don’t have to pursue a barbell weighing hundreds of pounds. You can stuff two dictionaries into your backpack and do push-ups on your back, put your feet on a chair, or slow down the lowering speed. These are all ways of loading. It doesn’t matter whether you use a barbell from the gym or a rice bag from your home. As long as the stimulation it receives is stronger than before, it will grow.

Practicing without supplements is useless. The academic community has been arguing about protein intake. It was first said that 1.2g per kilogram of body weight is enough. Later, some studies said that 2g is the optimal solution. The current consensus is that 1.6-2.2g/kg of body weight can fully meet the needs of ordinary muscle gain. There is no need to pour protein powder to make you anxious. For example, if you are 60kg, you only need to eat 96-132g of protein a day, which is about 4 eggs + two palm-sized pieces of chicken breast + 1 carton of pure milk. If you don’t have enough, you can drink a spoonful of protein powder. Don’t believe the nonsense that “if you don’t eat enough 2g, you won’t gain muscle.” I had stepped into the trap of gaining muscle before. During the lockdown, I just added instant noodles and intestines, thinking that if I ate more, I would gain weight. As a result, I gained 4 pounds in two weeks, and the fat on my waist became thicker. I later adjusted to eating an extra corn and a piece of chicken breast every day. The weight gain slowed down, but my arm circumference and leg circumference really increased. For ordinary people, 300-500 calories more than daily consumption are enough to build muscle. If you eat too much, it will all turn into fat, which will make it more troublesome to lose weight.

Eat enough, practice enough, and sleep will do the rest. There is no need to engage in the metaphysics of "you must sleep for 8 hours". Of course, it is best to get enough sleep. If an office worker can only sleep 6.5-7 hours a day, it will be fine. As long as you don't stay up until after 1 o'clock, your hormone levels will not deteriorate. Remember that muscles grow when you are resting, not when you lift dumbbells. You must leave at least 48 hours of rest time for the same part. You have just finished training your chest on Monday and then try it again on Wednesday at the earliest. Doing it every day will only weaken the muscles and make no progress.

In fact, even if the gym is open now, I will train at home two days a week. I don’t have to spend half an hour traveling, and I don’t have to compete with others for equipment. I can just change into slippers and start training. The time saved can sleep 20 minutes more and eat more braised chicken legs. Isn’t it better than spending time in the gym? If you are pursuing the dimension of playing games, you will indeed have to go to the gym to lift heavy weights, but for the 90% of ordinary people who just want to wear clothes that hold up their collars and have clear lines when they take off clothes, building muscle at home is completely enough. Don’t be led astray by the anxious comments on the Internet. Moving first is better than anything else. If you practice for three months and then come back and take a look, you may have quietly increased your arm circumference by two centimeters.