Home fitness exercise program

The essence of the home fitness program that is most suitable for the vast majority of ordinary people is "a low-start-up threshold, no equipment requirements, adaptable to different exercise bases, and a light-load lifestyle combination that can be completed in at least 10 minutes." I have practiced it myself for more than 2 years, and I have tested it with a dozen friends around me. The persistence rate is more than 80% higher than the standardized program that requires "one hour a day, a full set of professional equipment".

When I first started working out at home two years ago, I bought three yoga mats, and stacked half a cabinet with adjustable dumbbells, elastic bands, and abdominal wheels. As a result, I practiced a total of three times in the first month, and the mats ended up being used to stack express boxes. Later, after I asked Fa Xiao, a fitness coach, I found out that most people make the wrong first step when making home plans: they always transfer the training logic of the gym to their homes. It seems that if you don’t get enough time for an hour and practice until you are covered in sweat, it doesn’t count as exercise. The threshold is set too high, and of course you won’t be able to persist.

If you were out of breath while running 800 meters before, don’t watch Pamela’s or HIIT’s high-intensity videos as soon as you start. My best friend Pamela danced for 3 days last year, and her knees hurt for half a month. I went to the hospital to take a film and found out that the meniscus was worn due to deformation of movement. The plan for this kind of novice is actually very simple, and there is no need to spare any time: stand on one leg while brushing your teeth in the morning, for 30 seconds on each side, and you can practice core stability. ； At noon, when you are sitting at your desk fishing, lift your feet 10 centimeters off the ground and hold them for 1 minute. The effect of training your lower abdomen is better than doing 10 non-standard sit-ups. ； Don’t slump on the sofa when you’re watching a TV show in the evening. Stand up and do silent squats against the wall, with your back against the wall and your knees no higher than your toes. For 2 minutes at a time, you can do 3 sets while watching a TV show. The total exercise time in a day is less than 10 minutes. It takes no willpower at all. My colleague was too lazy to move, so he practiced this method for 3 months. His waist circumference was reduced by 4 centimeters. Now he can climb up to the 5th floor without having to take a breath midway.

Of course, if you occasionally run three to five kilometers and have one or two years of sporadic exercise experience, this fragmented plan may be a bit too "fishy" for you. Speaking of which, there is quite a controversy in the fitness circle about the path of home training. Those who do street fitness think that they can develop good lines by relying solely on their own weight, while those who do strength training think that small weights must be used to stimulate the muscles enough. I have used both methods, and it is quite easy to use. I installed a no-punch horizontal bar on the door beam of my bedroom. When I open the door after get off work, I do 5 pull-ups. The warm-up is done immediately. ； I was too lazy to buy dumbbells, so I took two 5-liter cooking oil buckets filled with water, and did 12 sets of presses and curls to train my upper limbs. Finally, I did 15 Bulgarian split squats, 3 sets of leg exercises on each side, and the whole process took 25 minutes. I showered and ate directly after the exercise, which was enough time to play one more game than the time spent on the way to the gym. If you feel that holding the oil drum is hard on your hands, buying a pair of 10kg adjustable plastic-dipped dumbbells only costs a few dozen yuan, and they don’t take up much space when placed in a corner.

If you already have two or three years of systematic training experience and often go to the gym, but you are temporarily unable to go out to exercise, then your core need must be to keep your muscle dimensions from collapsing. Don't listen to the nonsense on the Internet about "it's impossible to stay in shape by practicing at home." A friend of mine who does bodybuilding was banned for more than three months last year. He only had a pair of 20kg adjustable dumbbells and a set of elastic bands at home. When the lockdown was lifted, his arm circumference only dropped 0.8 centimeters. After returning to resume training for half a month, he returned to the previous level. His plan is actually to replace the heavy weights in the gym with multi-set supersets: put an elastic band on the back to increase resistance when doing push-ups, do 6 sets of 15, and rest for only 30 seconds between sets. ； Change the deadlift to single-leg deadlift, use dumbbell weights, and do 4 sets of 12 on each side. ； The core is to do hanging leg raises, hang on the horizontal bar for 4 sets of 10, and the whole process takes about 40 minutes. This way you can maintain your condition and won't have a mental breakdown because you haven't touched a heavy weight.

By the way, there is another topic that has been discussed for a long time: Should home fitness include live classes? I have tried both myself, and to be fair, it is actually quite suitable for novices to follow. With someone shouting the rhythm, it is not easy to paddle, and you can gradually establish the standard of movement, but you really should not force yourself to follow the intensity beyond your ability. I danced Liu Genghong with my mother a while ago, and she was out of breath after 10 minutes of dancing. If you already have a certain training foundation, there is actually no need to follow the live broadcast at all. After all, the live broadcast will take long breaks between groups in order to take care of the level of most people. I have followed Pamela's live broadcast once before, and I can complete the 45-minute content by practicing on my own in 25 minutes. The efficiency is much worse.

There are also a few blood and tear pits that I have stepped on before. Let me remind you: don’t buy those thin yoga mats that cost 20 or 30 yuan. When I was doing aerobics, my foot slipped and I sat on the ground. My tailbone hurt for almost a month. Then I changed to an 8mm thick non-slip mat. I haven’t fallen again. It’s only dozens of yuan more expensive. I really can’t save this money.； Don’t do it on an empty stomach or within half an hour after eating. In order to save time, I used to practice dumbbells on an empty stomach in the morning. I almost fell over due to hypoglycemia and almost hit my foot with the dumbbell. Now I’m scared to think about it. ； If you have bad knees, don’t do burpees, squats and other movements that put a lot of pressure on the knee joints. Instead, use elastic band seated leg extensions and high seated glute bridges. The effect of leg training and hip training is similar, and the pressure on the knees is almost negligible.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the most useless thing about home fitness is "perfectionism". I used to think that I had to put on a full set of sports clothes, lay out the mat, and squeeze in a full hour before exercising. As a result, most of the time was spent on mental construction. Instead, now that I think about it, I just do a few pull-ups and two sets of static squats while watching TV dramas. Unknowingly, I have persisted for more than two years, and my physical condition is even better than when I forced myself to go to the gym three times a week. After all, when it comes to fitness, "completion is more important than perfection." Moving is better than lying down.