What are the male fitness and muscle-building training methods?

Judging from the practical experience of a veteran who has been playing iron for 6 years, there are essentially no fancy shortcuts for male muscle gain. The core is to do three things: progressive load stimulation, matching diet and nutrition, and getting enough sleep and recovery time. All specific methods are extended around these three cores.

I took care of a brother who was doing back-end development two years ago. When he first got into fitness, he was very enthusiastic. He went to the gym five times a week. Each time, he would run for 40 minutes and then touch each equipment. He would not walk until his whole body was sore. As a result, after half a year of hard work, his weight was still stuck at 60kg, and his shoulders were still slumped when wearing a T-shirt. Later, the plan was completely adjusted for him. He only went there three times a week, and each time he practiced squats, bench presses, pull-ups, and bent-over rows. His weight increased by 2.5kg or he did 1-2 more exercises every week. He didn't need to boil the food, just eat an extra piece of chicken breast and an extra spoonful of rice for normal home-cooked meals. He was required to sleep for 7 hours before 12 o'clock every day. He gained 5kg in just three months, and the muscle lines on his arms were finally visible.

There are a lot of quarrels on the Internet about muscle-building methods. The most common quarrel is whether compound movements or isolation movements are more useful. One group says that compound movements are omnipotent, and novices do not need to practice isolation exercises at all. The other group says that they must first practice isolation exercises to find muscle strength. Otherwise, compound movements all rely on joint compensation. I have fallen into the trap of the former. In the first two years, I only practiced squatting, pushing and pulling, and the posterior shoulder bundles were never stimulated. The shoulder slip was very obvious, and I had no temperament no matter what clothes I wore. Later, I added 15 minutes of bent over flyes and rope face pulls at the end of each back training. The problem of shoulder slip was improved a lot in two months. In fact, these two are not in conflict at all. Beginners should first practice the compound movement pattern correctly, and use enough weight to establish the foundation. In the later period, it is enough to use the corresponding isolation movement to compensate for which muscle is weak. There is no need to stand on the side and step on it.

There are also a lot of quarrels about training differentiation. Some people say that novices must practice differentiation five days a week, and train their chest, shoulders, back, legs, and arms one by one to become professional. Some people say that training three days a week is the most effective for stimulating the whole body. In fact, this completely depends on your training level and the time you can spare. The muscles of novices recover quickly and can be recovered in 24-48 hours. Three exercises a week will go through the main muscle groups of the whole body each time, which is equivalent to stimulating the muscles 2-3 times a week. The muscle-building efficiency is much better than squeezing in five exercises and practicing each part for 10 minutes before paddling. After you practice for two or three years, you will be able to push 1.5 times your own weight in the bench press and pull 2 ​​times your own weight in the deadlift. The capacity of each training will increase, and it will take two or three days for a muscle to recover. It is not too late to switch to splitting or splitting the push-pull leg into five points. There is no need to copy the plan of professional athletes right from the start. Their training capacity and recovery ability are simply incomparable to ordinary people.

Many people are very superstitious about supplements when they first start training. They buy a bunch of protein powder, muscle-building powder, and creatine as soon as they apply for the card. As a result, the meals are not delicious, which is a complete waste of money. Just remember, you need to get 1.6-2.2g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and the total calories are 300-500 kcal more than your daily consumption. A 70kg boy probably needs 5 eggs, two palm-sized pieces of lean meat, a carton of milk, plus normal staple vegetables every day. I used to have a junior brother who ate instant noodles all the time, and then drank two spoons of protein powder when he remembered it. After practicing for a year, there was no improvement. Later, he started eating steadily, and he could see the change in three months.

Finally, I have to say, don’t think that the longer you stay in the gym, the better. Muscles are really not grown in the gym, they are synthesized while you sleep. Last year, I stayed up late for a week to catch up on a project. When I went to the gym, I couldn't even push the eight weights I could steadily push. During that time, I also lost 2kg of muscle. I felt so distressed. If you stay up until two or three o'clock every day playing games, your testosterone level will drop drastically, and it will be in vain no matter how hard you practice, and you may even get injured easily. Not long ago, I met a young man in the gym who had just been practicing for two months. He deadlifted 100kg in order to post it on WeChat. His waist was so bent that he couldn't stop him. The next day, he went to the hospital for a X-ray in pain. It took him two months before he dared to come back to practice. I really can't do it. The standard of movement is always more important than the weight.