The difference between male fitness and muscle gain

Fitness is a general term for all physical activities with the goal of improving physical fitness and adjusting physical condition. Muscle building is just a subdivision of the broad category of fitness, with the core goal of increasing skeletal muscle content, improving muscle circumference and strength. The two are included and included, but the differences in goal orientation, execution logic, and evaluation standards are much greater than most novices imagine.

To be honest, I confused these two concepts when I first got into sports. The first time I entered the gym, I opened my mouth and said to the coach, "I want to build muscles." As a result, the coach held me down for half an hour to evaluate my posture. He pointed at my cervical spine that was bent into a C and said, "The most important thing you should practice now is neck resistance. Lean forward." Adjust it clearly and then talk about other things." It was then that I realized that the 3 kilometers I ran around the community after get off work, the mountain climbing with friends on weekends, and even the shoulder and neck relaxation exercises I did at home following the video were all fitness, and muscle building was just an optional copy in the big map of fitness.

A few years ago, I met an interesting newcomer at the gym. After practicing for two months, I quarreled with the coach, saying that even though he came every day as required, he still gained 3 pounds and his pants were tight. After asking, I found out that his original goal was to lose weight, but the coach arranged a muscle-building plan without asking him clearly. He also asked him to eat more carbohydrates to gain weight every day. Isn't this a mistake? The essence is that they don’t understand the goal difference between the two: fitness goals are completely personalized. You want to lower blood lipids, improve rounded shoulders and hunchback, or even just want to sweat and relieve anxiety after get off work. As long as it can meet your needs, it is effective fitness. ； However, the goal of muscle gain is very single, which is to increase muscle mass as much as possible within a controllable range. Other needs must give way to this goal.

Don't believe it, the execution logic of the two is even further apart. In fact, there is no threshold for general fitness. You can walk an extra two kilometers after get off work every day, do 10 squats at the company during lunch break, or even go play Frisbee with friends for an afternoon on the weekend. As long as you move, you will not lose money. It doesn't matter if you are not in good paddling condition. You will gain whatever you want. But building muscle is a completely different set of logic. It has to stick to the hard indicators of progressive overload, caloric surplus, and rest and recovery, and almost no effect can be achieved. During my muscle-building period, I was very pretentious. I had to weigh myself on a food scale every day when I brought rice. I weighed 180 grams of rice and 220 grams of chicken breast. Even the olive oil I sprayed had to be counted in grams. My friend asked me to push the skewers eight times out of ten times. I was afraid that if I ate too much, I would gain body fat, or if I ate too little, I would not gain weight. I used to have a buddy who practiced very hard and spent two hours in the gym every day. However, he ate light meals to lose fat every time, and his calorie deficit was almost catching up with people who lose weight. After practicing for half a year, his arm circumference did not increase at all, and he lost 1 pound of muscle. In essence, he applied the logic of "healthy eating" of general fitness to muscle gain, which was completely wrong.

There are a lot of controversies about the two in the circle now, and there is even an inexplicable chain of contempt: fitness enthusiasts who do endurance running and triathlons look down on those who practice muscle building, saying that they have "dead muscles" and can't breathe even after climbing five floors. The extra muscle mass also puts an extra burden on the heart.； Those who are into bodybuilding and powerlifting feel that other fitness exercises are just "playing house". After practicing for half a year, there are no traces of muscles, which is equivalent to practicing in vain. Some people even debate whether using drugs to increase muscle mass is considered serious fitness. One group thinks that as long as the goal of muscle growth is achieved, it is fine. The other group thinks that it violates the original intention of fitness to pursue health. You can say whatever you want. In fact, to put it bluntly, there is no distinction between high and low. It’s just that everyone wants different things. What you want is to finish the marathon, and what he wants is to bench press 150 kilograms. They are all moving towards their own goals, and there is no need to step on them.

Judgment standards are completely different. Only you know whether your fitness is good or bad: your sleep has improved, you no longer breathe when climbing stairs, your fatty liver has disappeared during physical examinations, your cervical vertebrae no longer hurt after sitting for a long time. As long as you feel comfortable, you are practicing correctly. But the standards for muscle gain are rigid. You can deceive others by how much your arm circumference has increased, how much your weight has increased in the three major categories, and how much your muscle mass has increased while keeping your body fat under control. I have seen many people go to the gym every day, check their mobile phones for 8 out of 10 minutes between sets, and their bench press is still at 60 kilograms after practicing for a year. Do you think they are not exercising? He does move every day. Do you think he is gaining muscle? That's basically a waste of time.

I now ride a 20-kilometer road bike two days a week, slowly swinging and looking at the trees on the roadside. That is pure fitness. I don’t pursue speed or results at all. I focus on relaxation.； The remaining four days are spent in the gym pounding weights to calculate capacity, which is to gain muscle. The two are never in conflict. To put it bluntly, there is no point in getting hung up on definitions. If you just want to feel better and less likely to get sick, then just move as much as you like. You don’t have to force yourself to eat unpalatable chicken breasts for heavy weights. ； If you just want to wear a T-shirt to hold up your cuffs, and have obvious muscle lines when you take off your clothes, then follow the rules of muscle gain and work hard. Knowing what you want is much more important than following the trend and joining in the fun.