Insights into home fitness

The core truth of home fitness has never been about "cultivating a perfect body at zero cost" as spread on the Internet, but that ordinary people can find the optimal path to exercise habits that suit their own life rhythm with the lowest trial and error cost, minimal social pressure, and highest flexibility. This is the most practical conclusion I have come to after practicing at home on and off for three years, going through countless pitfalls, following a dozen bloggers, and even hoarding half a house of useless fitness equipment.

To be honest, I didn’t look down on home fitness at all in the past. A proper gym style, I always felt that without a Smith frame, a barbell that can be added to 80kg, and no coach watching to correct the movements, what is it called fitness? It’s just random gestures. It wasn't until the lockdown at home in the spring of 2022 that my fitness card was suspended for more than two months. My whole body was as stiff as rusty iron. I reluctantly dug out the yoga mat I had bought together and danced with Pamela for three days of fat-burning exercises. As a result, my knees hurt so much that I couldn't go downstairs. I went to the orthopedic surgeon and found out that I was born with collapsed arches and was not suitable for high-intensity jumping movements. In the past, the instructor would remind me of this problem in the first class at the gym. That was the first time I realized that home fitness does have its limitations.

Nowadays, the fitness circle is quarreling over whether home fitness is an IQ tax. Friends in the professional bodybuilding circle always say that the load limit of bodyweight training is too low. It is impossible to systematically build muscle and prepare for competitions at home. I agree with this. My friend has to do heavy deadlifts three times a week. It is impossible to install a deadlift platform for him at home, right? But another colleague of mine who works in Internet operations gets home from get off work at almost 10 o'clock every day. It is unrealistic to ask him to change clothes and rush to the gym until early in the morning after training and washing. He squeezes in 20 minutes before going to bed every day and stretches according to the shoulder and neck rehabilitation videos on Station B. After practicing for half a year, the cervical spine problem that used to be so painful that he had to go for acupuncture has basically not happened again. The round shoulder problem has also improved a lot. Can you say that this is not an effective fitness for him?

My current home fitness corner is squeezed next to the flower stand on the balcony. There are more than 100 TPE yoga mats that the cat can catch several balls. Next to it is a 2kg small dumbbell and a two-year-old elastic band. There is not even a mirror. It will no longer be like the beginning. I have to squeeze in a full hour, put on a full set of fitness clothes, and go through the entire warm-up and stretching process before I can start. Sometimes in the morning, while boiling eggs and waiting for the water to boil, I can do 15 standing rowing positions against the wall. During the commercial breaks while watching TV dramas, I can do two sets of clam exercises. As for my buttocks, last week’s physical examination showed that my body fat rate has dropped by 3 points compared to two years ago. The old problem of lumbar disc herniation has not recurred. It’s funny to say that I used to apply for a two-year annual membership in the gym and went to the gym less than 20 times in total. There was no change. This sporadic practice at home has achieved results.

Of course, if you have to say that home fitness is all about benefits, that would not be objective. I used to learn deadlifts from videos, but no one was watching and I would always slump my waist. After half a month of training, my waist started to hurt. Later, I spent 99 yuan to find an online coach. I filmed my movements twice and sent them to adjust, and then I corrected this problem. Without the awareness of active learning and correction, home training is indeed easy to take detours. If you have a sports foundation and want to achieve higher sports performance, professional equipment and venues in the gym are definitely the first choice.

Last night I practiced plank support with the blogger, and just after holding it for 30 seconds, my orange cat jumped on my back and stepped on my breasts. I simply carried it on my back and held it for an extra 20 seconds. My mother was holding a bowl of watermelon next to me and laughed, saying that I was playing with the cat during my workout. There is no absolutely correct way to exercise. For ordinary people, they don’t have to deal with the nagging of gym sales, they don’t have to worry about being on the road in a hurry, and they don’t have to be looked at because they are not wearing professional fitness clothes. Being able to move comfortably and being willing to persist for a long time is better than anything else.