The relationship between male fitness and muscle gain

Men's fitness and muscle gain are never bound to a cause-and-effect relationship - muscle gain is just one subdivision of the many goals of men's fitness. Only when your training mode, nutritional intake, rest and recovery completely follow the core logic of "excessive repair of muscle fibers after micro-damage" will fitness point to the result of muscle gain.； Most conventional fitness behaviors (such as running 3 kilometers a day, touching the equipment twice, and doing exercise for half an hour) can only improve cardiopulmonary function and regulate body fat, and have nothing to do with building muscle.

Zhang, who works at the gym downstairs in my home, is the most typical example. He goes to the gym three times a week without hesitation. Every time he walks in, he runs for 40 minutes. He sweats until his T-shirt is soaked through. Then he goes to the fixed equipment area and touches each one one by one. He does each movement about ten times before changing. After training, he has to go to the sauna for ten minutes. When he gets hungry, he nibbles on a protein bar, thinking it is "nutritional." I have been practicing like this for more than a year, and I have lost 12 pounds in weight. I still can't hold my arms up when I put on a shirt. The last time I met him, I frowned and asked, "I work out every day, but I don't gain any muscle at all." I heard it funny and helpless.

Let’s be honest, many people’s misunderstanding about muscle growth comes from the direct equation of “fitness” and “exercise”. They think that as long as you touch the iron, you can grow muscles. In fact, there is a far cry. The resistance training required for muscle growth has a clear threshold: it must reach at least 60% of your maximum single-time load to create sufficient tension stimulation on the target muscles. If you do a 2kg dumbbell curl for a hundred times, it will do nothing except soreness. At most, it will train muscle endurance.

When it comes to training modes, the fitness circle has been arguing about "heavy weight, low volume" and "high volume failure sets" for almost ten years, and there is still no absolute standard answer. I know a young man born in 1995 who plays natural sports. He is determined to use heavy weight compound movements. Each group can be done up to 6 times. He can squat, push and pull to the fullest. After four years of training, his arm circumference has reached 45cm, and his body fat has been maintained at about 12% all year round. ； There is also a friend who used to do street fitness. He never used heavy weights. He did 15-20 times in each group until the target muscles were completely exhausted and the capacity was sufficient. Now his arm circumference is 43cm, and he still feels bulging when wearing short sleeves. There are people who have produced solid results in both methods. No one is right or wrong. It just depends on which one is more suitable for your own joint tolerance and recovery ability. There is no need to use both methods.

Moreover, men's own physiological advantages will indeed increase the efficiency of muscle gain - testosterone levels are naturally 2-3 times that of women. As long as you use the right method during the novice welfare period, it is normal to gain 3-5 pounds of lean body mass in three months, but don't take this advantage too seriously. Last year I took a student who had just graduated. He was 185cm tall and only weighed 120kg. He trained harder than anyone else and never sat down during each set break. He had not gained any weight in three months. When I asked him later, I found out that he stayed up late playing games until 2 or 3 o'clock every day. He also had to go out with friends on weekends until he was hungover. His testosterone level dropped lower than that of a person in his thirties. It was strange that he could gain muscle. Later, he was forced to go to bed before 11 o'clock every day and stopped drinking. In the second month, he gained 4 pounds and his arms became visibly thicker.

Oh, by the way, don’t believe the exaggerated saying on the Internet that “30% training and 70% eating”, but eating is indeed a stumbling block for most people on their way to building muscle. I met a young man before who practiced so hard for an hour and a half every day that he ended up eating takeout clear soup noodles and fried eggs. Calculated in a day, he still lost 300 calories. The more he practiced, the more muscle he lost. When it comes to eating, there is another controversy that has been going on for many years: Is it better to build muscle dirty or clean? Some people think that in the novice stage, the efficiency of muscle building is high, so there is no need to be so strict, as long as the calories are enough, you can eat hamburgers and fried chicken as you like, and you need to pile on the weight first. ； Some people also think that 70% of the increase in internal muscle mass is fat. When you apply fat in the later stage, you will also lose muscle, which is not worth the gain. My own experience is to look at the basics of body fat. If your original body fat is below 15%, it’s absolutely fine to eat a little more liberally. At worst, it will take two months to gain fat. ； If your body fat is already over 22%, and you still hug Coca-Cola fried chicken every day and say you are building muscle, then the final gain will most likely be due to oil, and your abdominal muscles will have to be hidden for another two to three years.

There is another point that many people are unwilling to mention: genes do affect the upper limit of muscle gain. Some people are born with a high proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers, and their dimensions will increase quickly with any training. They are naturally suitable for taking the muscle-building route. ； Some people are born with more slow-twitch muscle fibers and can easily run a half marathon, but training to build muscle is more difficult than others. The ceiling for most naturally fit men is about 45cm in arm circumference. The arm circumference that you see on the Internet has increased by 10cm in a year and the shoulders are as wide as special effects. 99% of them are not natural results. There is really no need for ordinary enthusiasts to be anxious, and there is no need to touch those messy technological products. There is no need to ruin the body just to look good in clothes.

To put it bluntly, fitness is for yourself. If you just like the refreshing feeling of running and sweating, there is no need to worry about why you don’t build muscles.； If you just want the cuffs to hold up when you wear a T-shirt and have clear lines when you take off your clothes, then just stick to the logic of muscle gain and adjust the rhythm of training, diet, and work and rest. Don't practice for a long time every day and blame yourself for not having talent. There are so many talent problems, and most people haven't worked hard enough to fight for genes.