What are the differences between male fitness and muscle gain

Essentially speaking, the "men's fitness" we talk about in our daily context is a pan-sport activity that covers all needs, while "muscle gain" is a specialized training path with strong goal orientation. All the differences between the two, from the underlying logic to the execution details, are all caused by different goal orientations.

People who often go to the gym must have seen a lot of contrasts. For example, Xiao Zhang, who works next door, drops in to practice after work. He first steps on the elliptical machine for 20 minutes to sweat, then touches a few sets of equipment to do shoulder and back exercises, and finally goes to the stretching area to roll the foam roller for 10 minutes. When asked about his goals, he said that he wanted to climb the fifth floor without breathing, wear a shirt without slumping his shoulders, and his body fat should not exceed 20. Occasionally, he would drink cold beer with friends on weekends without any taboos. This is the most typical ordinary fitness state. The guy next to me has a protein bar and a training notebook stuffed in his backpack every time. He has to write down the weight and number of bench presses for each set. The 45-second interval between sets is more accurate than clocking in at work. After practice, he squats in the rest area and immediately prepares whey protein. He doesn’t even dare to touch milk tea during dinner at night. He is still wondering whether he has eaten 2g of protein per kilogram of body weight today. He stays up all night worrying about whether he will lose muscle. This is all about building muscle.

Many people who are just getting started tend to confuse the two and think that as long as they touch the strength equipment, they are building muscle. This is not the case. If your fitness needs are to maintain health and have a little shallow lines, then practice three times a week. It doesn't matter even if you paddle in the middle. The form of exercise is not limited. Playing ball, cycling, and practicing Pamela at home by following the video. You don't need to eat too much. The overall balance is enough, and the focus is on comfort and sustainability. But if you really want visible dimensional growth, you must break away from the comfort zone of ordinary fitness. Progressive overload is a hard requirement that cannot be avoided. This week, if you can do 60kg bench press 8 times, next week you have to try to either add 2.5kg of weight, or do 2 more reps of the same weight to continuously give your muscles Growth is possible only with the stimulation of new muscles. Not only training, but also diet and sleep are all assessment items. Protein intake is the bottom line, and carbohydrates must be accurately controlled. If there are too many, it will be easy to accumulate fat. If there is insufficient energy supply, the muscles will not grow. If you don't sleep for 7 hours a day, testosterone levels will drop. No matter how hard you train, it will be in vain.

Nowadays, there are different voices in the circle about the boundary between the two. Many natural trainers feel that there is no need to make muscle building as demanding as preparing for a competition. They usually exercise normally to ensure protein intake, and they can slowly build muscle, just at a slower pace, without having to do anything to themselves. There is so much pressure; there are also fans who specialize in bodybuilding competitions who feel that as long as you want to have muscle mass far beyond ordinary people, you must draw a clear line from ordinary fitness. A loose training diet will not be effective at all. After three to five years of training, you may not be able to keep up with the changes in systemic muscle gain in half a year. In fact, there is nothing wrong with both of these statements. It’s just that the expectations for “muscle gain” are different. If you want to wear a T-shirt to see the outline of your chest and shoulders, you can do it by slowly touching in ordinary fitness. If you want to wear tights and see obvious muscle separation, or even compete on stage, then you must take the path of special muscle gain.

To put it bluntly, the difference between the two is like learning a musical instrument. Ordinary fitness is equivalent to learning guitar just to play a few songs you like. You can practice for half an hour when you have time, and you can play it without going out of tune. Muscle building is equivalent to taking a professional playing route, starting from climbing the grid to practice the basics. You have to practice for several hours every day, including music theory and fingering. The amount of time and energy you spend is completely different. There is no need to worry about which one to choose, just think clearly about what you want first. What you are most afraid of is that you obviously want to gain muscle lines with other people’s systems, and you practice with ordinary fitness stroke intensity. If you don’t have any effect after practicing for two months, you just blame your poor physique. Then you simply haven’t found the right path.