Should newbies get started with fitness, should they do aerobic or anaerobic first?

If you are a novice getting started with fitness, there is no need to worry about the standard answer of "aerobic or anaerobic first" - just choose the method that you can persist in, and then fine-tune the order according to your own goals. By struggling with this, you can pedal two kilometers on the elliptical machine.

I have seen too many newcomers entering the gym for the first time. On the left is a shiny dumbbell rack, a group of big guys are pushing weights, and on the right is a row of treadmills running sweaty. Standing in the middle of the aisle, he takes out his mobile phone to search for tips. The more he searches for half an hour, the more confused he becomes. One moment he sees people saying that they lose muscle with oxygen first, and the other moment they say that without oxygen first, they are more likely to get injured. They change clothes and go home, and are purely persuaded to quit by a bunch of rules.

Most veterans of the Power Party who have been practicing for five or six years will advise you to do anaerobic exercise first. They say that novices have limited glycogen reserves. Doing aerobic for 40 to 50 minutes will deplete all your strength. Then your hands will shake when holding dumbbells. If you do not do the movements correctly, you will easily injure your waist and knees, which is not worth the gain. This statement does make sense, especially if you are originally aiming to develop clear abdominal muscles, right-angled shoulders to support clothes, and an inverted triangle back. Prioritizing strength training can ensure that you can perform standard movements when you are most energetic, and your training capacity can be increased. The efficiency of muscle growth is indeed much higher. Oh, by the way, don’t believe the rumor that “newbies will lose muscle if they practice strength.” The amount of training you do is still far from the threshold of “building muscle.”

But there are also many coaches who are good at losing fat and suggest that novices with poor physical fitness start with aerobics. I met a young girl who just graduated. When she was in school, she had to slow down the 800-meter physical test for three days. When she came up, she was asked to squat on the empty bar. After three sets of squats, her face was as white as paper, and she almost fainted in the equipment area. In this case, if you force her to do anaerobic training first, it is simply embarrassing. Start with low-intensity aerobic training such as elliptical machines and brisk walking for two weeks to improve her cardiopulmonary function. Not to mention lifting weights, she can usually climb five floors without gasping for breath. Once she feels better, she will naturally be willing to run to the gym.

My friend Akai, who is 183cm tall and only weighs 110kg, has a typical ectomorphic physique. His goal when he comes to fitness is to be able to support his shoulders when wearing a shirt. On the first day, I took him to practice chest, shoulder and back bodyweight and empty bar movements. After each exercise, he walked on the treadmill for up to 10 minutes to relax. He gained 9kg in two months. Now he is visibly strong in a T-shirt. If he had been allowed to run for 40 minutes first, he would probably have lost weight now. I also have a female friend who is slightly chubby and wants to lose some fat on her waist first. I asked her to ride the elliptical machine for 40 minutes every day for the first two weeks while watching variety shows. When her physical fitness improved, she added light weight dumbbells. She lost 6 points of body fat in more than three months and can now do standard kneeling push-ups.

There is actually no clear conclusion in the field of kinesiology as to which order is better. The core still depends on what you want. If you focus on building muscle and shaping, do anaerobic training first to ensure the intensity of strength training. Finally, add 15-20 minutes of aerobic fat brushing and you won’t lose much muscle. As long as you eat enough protein every day (1.2-1.6g per kilogram of body weight is enough, no Do not supplement excessive amounts of protein powder), and the total training time should not exceed one and a half hours. It is not as exaggerated as the "losing muscle" mentioned on the Internet - to be honest, many novices have just started training and don't even have much muscle. They worry about losing muscle every day. They are simply overthinking. If you focus on losing fat, and your physical fitness is very poor if you don't exercise at all, then do 10 minutes of aerobic warm-up, then about 30 minutes of light weight strength training, and finally add 20 minutes of aerobic, which will burn fat more efficiently and help you preserve your muscles, so that you won't feel loose after losing weight.

When I first entered the industry, I was also constrained by the rules on the Internet. I had to strictly implement the "40 minutes anaerobic + 30 minutes aerobic" process. As a result, I didn't like to exercise. Every time I thought about doing dumbbells for 40 minutes, I didn't want to move to the gym after get off work. Later, I just gave up and started running for 30 minutes every day for the first half of the month. I also watched the variety shows I had saved. I gradually realized that going to the gym was not a painful thing, so I started to gradually increase my strength training. Now after four years of training, my results in the three major events are not much worse than those of enthusiasts who followed the standard procedure from the beginning.

Really, the most valuable thing in the novice stage is not the training sequence or diet plan, but your willingness to take action. Don’t be scared by a bunch of rules and regulations that scare you away from entering. Even if you go to the gym and walk for 20 minutes today, it will be better than lying down at home and reading fitness guides for three hours. As for the order? If you practice for two months, your body will give you the answer, so there is no need to ask others.