Gym fitness routine

Dynamic warm-up → strength training (compound actions take priority over isolation actions, large muscle groups take priority over small muscle groups) → targeted aerobic/functional training → static stretching. But this order is never an iron rule. It can be flexibly adjusted according to your training goals and physical condition. There is no need to stick to a rigid template.

Don't believe it. When I first applied for the card two years ago, I ran on the treadmill for 40 minutes before I entered. I was sweating profusely and then I felt that "it was not in vain today." When I went to pull up my back, I couldn't even pull half of the pull-up. The coach came over and patted me on the shoulder and said, "You have burned all the fuel first, and you will be lonely after practicing." Later I realized that strength training requires sufficient supply of glycogen to ensure standard movements. Doing full aerobics first will consume most of your strength. Not only will the movements become deformed, but the target muscles cannot be trained, it is also very easy to injure joints.

When it comes to warming up, many people think that just running for two minutes to get a little sweaty is enough, but this is not the case. If you are training legs today, you should warm up by moving your hips, knees and ankles, and then do two sets of empty bar squats to find a good feeling of strength. Otherwise, squat 100kg when you get up, and your knees will alarm you in minutes. I went to the gym with a novice friend last week. He came up and did curls with a 25kg dumbbell without even doing a warm-up. He strained his biceps on the same day and had to rest for almost two weeks. It was a real loss to my grandma.

Putting strength training before aerobics in the general sequence is essentially a fault-tolerant guide for novices - after all, most people exercise just to gain some muscle and lose some fat. First ensure the quality of strength training, gain muscle without losing muscle, and increase the basal metabolism, which will lead to faster fat loss. But it doesn’t mean that everyone has to follow this approach. I know many veterans who are in the fat-cleaning period. They like to ride on the low-intensity elliptical machine for 20 minutes first to consume part of the glycogen. Later, during strength training, more fat will be used for energy, and the fat-cleaning efficiency will be higher. However, there is a prerequisite for this method: you have at least half a year of training foundation, and the action pattern has been engraved into your muscle memory. Even if your strength is reduced by 30%, your waist will not collapse when you bench press, and you will not use your trapezius muscles to compensate. Otherwise, it is really not recommended to try it blindly.

When it comes to the order within strength training, there is no need to stick to the rule that "large muscle groups must be put first". For example, if your shoulders are particularly weak recently and you can't help but shrug your shoulders to use force when practicing bench press, you can do two sets of light-weight face pulls and dumbbell lateral raises to activate the posterior shoulder bundles after warming up, and then press the weight of the bench press. This will avoid the embarrassment of the trapezius muscles getting stronger as you practice. On my back training days, I sometimes do two sets of light-weight high pulldowns first to feel the contraction, and then do deadlifts. The feeling of exertion will be much better. If you are practicing powerlifting, then you don’t need to worry about the order of auxiliary movements. After warming up, you can go directly to the main weight, and then add auxiliary training after finishing. Maintaining strength is the core goal.

Let me give you an example of the most common chest training day for your reference: first use the elliptical machine to sweat slightly for 5 minutes, then shoulder circle, thoracic spine rotation, and arm circle for 1 minute each, then do two sets of empty bar bench press to find a sense of strength (this part is a warm-up), then put the weight on and do 4 sets of barbell bench press, and then do incline dumbbells 4 sets of bell bench press, followed by isolated movements such as butterfly machine chest clamp and rope fly to carve the middle seam and upper edge of the chest. If you still have the strength that day, do 20 minutes of incline walking. Finally, spend 5 minutes stretching the pecs, triceps, and anterior shoulder bundles, and statically stretch each part for 30 seconds.

If you are practicing CrossFit and you are originally pursuing comprehensive physical fitness, the training sequence is originally a mixture of various strength, aerobic, and technical movements. You don't have to worry about the order at all, as long as you warm up in place. I have a friend who is a marathon enthusiast. He goes to the gym to strengthen his core and legs to avoid injuries. Every time he does a 10-kilometer jog as a warm-up, and then does squats and deadlifts. After three years of training, he has not been injured, and his performance has improved a lot.

After all, the order of the gym is never a standard answer posted on the wall. If you feel uncomfortable after practicing a few times, your muscles are not strong, and you always have inexplicable soreness the next day, just adjust it. You really don’t need to worry about the “standard order” mentioned on the Internet. If you feel good after practicing, can see the effect in the long term, and have no injuries or pain, then this order is the most suitable for you. The only bottom line to remember is: don’t touch heavy weights before you’ve warmed up. No matter how tired you are, you should spend 5 minutes stretching. Otherwise, the muscles you’ve trained will be tight, and you’ll easily get injured over time.