What is the difference between men’s fitness and muscle building?

In fact, the two are not parallel concepts at all. Muscle building is a subdivided goal in the large category of male fitness, which is equivalent to the relationship between milk tea and full-sugar pearl milk tea. The former is a general category, and the latter is a specific choice with clear preferences.

Last week I met two guys from the same company at the gym. One came to the gym every day to ride the elliptical machine for 20 minutes and hold dumbbells for 10 minutes before taking a shower. He asked, "I feel stiff after sitting for a long time at work. Let's do some exercise."

In fact, there are two voices quarreling in the fitness circle. One group thinks that "without muscle gain, there is no fitness." They say that if you don't even increase your muscle mass after practicing for a long time, that's not fitness, it's just exercise.； The other group thinks it's too serious and boring. I work out just to lower my blood fat and get a good night's sleep. Why do I have to force myself to eat unpalatable muscle-building meals and squat until I can't get downstairs? There is actually nothing wrong with both statements. The original definition of fitness is broad, as long as it is active physical exercise, muscle building is just a highly targeted branch.

If we really want to talk about the physical difference between the two, it is actually quite similar to the difference between casual walking and orienteering. In the former, you can walk wherever you want, rest when you are tired, and you can take two pictures when you see a beautiful scene. There is no hard and fast requirement.； The latter has to keep an eye on the check-in point, calculate the time, be careful about the route and pace, and may even miss the goal. Just like I used to know a buddy who works as a planner. He had severely rounded shoulders and hunched back at the beginning. He asked a coach to do back exercises to improve his posture. After practicing for three months, he found that his shoulders could be supported by wearing a T-shirt, so he simply switched to a muscle-building plan. Now, even when going out to eat hot pot with friends, he has to calculate the calories first, and he has to count the slices to eat even the hairy belly. This is the most intuitive transformation from "casual fitness" to "specialized muscle building."

Oh, by the way, don’t think that building muscle is so mysterious. Many people don’t think about building muscle when they first start working out. After practicing for two months, they find that their arms are thicker and their strength is stronger. In fact, it also has the effect of building muscle, but it is not as efficient as targeted muscle building. If you really want to build muscle, you must hit the key points of progressive overload, calorie surplus, and adequate rest. Otherwise, it will be difficult to grow obvious muscle mass no matter how long you practice. Anyway, for ordinary men, there is no need to draw a clear line between the two. If you want to feel relaxed, just move around and sweat. If you want to look good in clothes and have better physical strength, just lean more in the direction of building muscle. Whatever suits you.