Home fitness and weight loss

There is no need to apply for annual fitness passes worth thousands of dollars, there is no need to rush for equipment during peak periods, and there is no need to be too afraid to do exercises because of fear of social death. Ordinary people only need to find a rhythm that suits them. If they work out at home and lose weight in 3 months, they can steadily lose 10-15 kilograms, and the long-term rebound probability is about 40% lower than that of high-frequency outdoor fitness. This is the solid conclusion I came to after being trapped at home for 3 months during the epidemic in 2020, from 128 kilograms to 112 kilograms. After that, I tracked the data of 17 friends who checked in during the same period for two years.

Damn, speaking of it, I also took a lot of detours at the beginning. I read on the Internet that Pamela burns fat quickly, so I started doing advanced exercises for an hour. After dancing, my knees hurt for three days. Not only did I not lose weight, but I was so hungry after dancing that I ate two bowls of snail rice noodles. I gained 2 pounds, and I had to undergo emo surgery for several days. Later, after reading a lot of content from fitness bloggers and asking for advice from friends who are good at practicing, I discovered that there is no standard answer to home fitness. Nowadays, there are several paths that people often take, each with its own pros and cons, so there is really no need to stick to one.

For example, the most popular lightweight aerobics group basically follows bloggers such as Liu Genghong and Sister Jo. The advantage is that the threshold is very low. You can dance while standing in the living room wearing pajamas, and the music is lively and easy to persist. My former colleague Xiao Zhou is a typical example. She dances for 40 minutes after dinner every night. She doesn't have dietary restrictions but doesn't eat hazelnuts. She lost 9 pounds in two months. However, she hit a plateau in the third month. She lost weight, but the muscles around her waist were so loose that she could pinch a lot of them. This was a problem of muscle loss caused by pure aerobic exercise. Her basal metabolism could not keep up. Later, she added some dumbbells to train her arms, and she broke the plateau in half a month.

The other group is a staunch family power party. They believe that aerobic exercise is "temporary slimming", and building muscle and improving basal metabolism is a once and for all thing. Spend 180 yuan to buy a pair of adjustable dumbbells and several elastic bands with different resistances, and you can train your whole body at home. I weighed 160 pounds before I lost weight. I would go home from get off work and exercise for 20 minutes every day on my shoulders, back, and legs. I would also drink less carbonated drinks and eat less refined carbohydrates. I lost 22 pounds in more than two months. Now I occasionally go out with friends to eat barbecue and drink a few bottles of beer, and my weight is very stable. However, when he started to practice deadlifts blindly, his movements were wrong and his waist slipped. He lay down at home for less than half a month, which was not worth the loss.

There is also a more Buddhist school, saying that as long as you keep your mouth shut, you can lose weight even if you walk 8,000 steps at home every day. This is what my mother did. Last winter, she didn’t want to go out to dance in the square, so she walked back and forth at home. She didn’t eat staple food at night and only drank a bowl of vegetable soup. She also lost 6 pounds in a month. However, she couldn’t help but eat a few cakes I brought home and gained back 4 pounds. To put it bluntly, the weight was gained purely from hunger. Once she returned to a normal diet, she regained weight.

I have been working hard for so long, and now the rhythm is particularly suitable for office workers who work 9 to 5. When I get home, I change clothes and step on the yoga mat first. I do shoulder and hip bridge exercises with elastic bands for 10 minutes, then follow Sister Jo for 25 minutes to do fat-burning exercises without jumping, and follow Station B for the last 5 minutes. The stretching video relaxes the entire back legs, shoulders and neck. The whole set takes less than 40 minutes. You don’t have to jump downstairs to find the door, nor can you get up the next day when you are tired after practice. After practice, drink a cup of warm milk and nibble a small apple. I am not hungry at all, and my sleep is much better than before using my mobile phone until midnight.

Of course, some people say that there is no atmosphere in home fitness and it is easy to get lazy. This is too normal. At first, I always thought, "I will practice tomorrow if I am tired today." Later, I simply spread the yoga mat in front of the TV all year round. There are also people who are worried about injuries caused by improper movements. You really need to pay attention to this. When you first start practicing, don’t be embarrassed and do it in front of a full-length mirror, or spend a few dollars to buy a fitness membership with movement correction. If you really can’t find an online coach to watch videos of you doing movements twice, tens of dollars is much better than if you hurt your knee or waist and spend thousands of dollars to see a doctor and recuperate for a few months.

In fact, in the final analysis, when it comes to home fitness and weight loss, you really don’t need to pursue any perfect plan, nor do you need to compete with others who can dance longer or lift more weight. You are not going to participate in a bodybuilding competition. You just want to look good in clothes and have normal indicators during physical examinations. If you are in good condition today, practice for 20 more minutes. If you are in bad condition, do 10 minutes of stretching. Even standing still for a few minutes is better than lying on the sofa eating potato chips. The method that can last for a long time is the best method for you.