The best way to keep fit for women

Align the target first, then match the intensity, and finally leave enough flexibility.

To be honest, too many girls around me have fallen into the trap of "copying the standard answers". A little while ago, a young girl who had just graduated came to me and said that after practicing for three months with a certain Internet celebrity, she added weight very quickly and her buttocks did not rise much. Instead, she leaked urine every time she coughed. My aunt even delayed it for more than ten days. After going for a rehabilitation evaluation, I found out that she had mild pelvic floor muscle laxity. She did heavy hip thrusts without any adjustment, and her abdominal pressure was always on the pelvic floor. She was lucky to have no major problems.

This is also the most controversial point in the fitness circle right now: Should women give priority to training with heavy weights?

Mainstream supporters of strength training will say that after the age of 30, women lose bone density every year, and estrogen declines much faster than men. Strength training can build muscles and improve basal metabolism. The shaping effect is much better than aerobic training, and it can also prevent osteoporosis in middle-aged and elderly people. No matter how you look at it, it is the most cost-effective option. However, most female rehabilitation practitioners will mention another fact: nearly 30% of Chinese women have hidden injuries to the pelvic floor muscles to varying degrees, especially women who have been sedentary for a long time, have a history of dysmenorrhea, and have given birth. Blindly squatting with heavy weights without evaluation can easily aggravate abdominal pressure, ranging from urinary leakage to waist and leg pain, and in severe cases, affecting pelvic health.

Both statements are correct, and it is not a black and white matter at all. Just like you are a healthy, unmarried girl, you usually don’t have waist and abdominal pain or urinary leakage problems. If you practice the correct movement pattern, you will have no problem pushing the weight. ； But if you have just given birth to a baby, or you have problems with lumbar protrusion or pelvic floor muscle relaxation, you must first do rehabilitation training before talking about muscle building and shaping.

I have been practicing by myself for 6 years. In the first half of the period, I followed the "standard answer": 1.5 hours in the gym every day, 1 hour of strength + 40 minutes of aerobics. When my body fat reached 19%, I had vest lines, but my aunt postponed it for 22 days. My hair fell so much that my floor drain had to be drained every half a month. It was then that I realized that women’s hormone levels are much more sensitive than men’s. If others practice with an intensity that is fine, it may be a disaster for you.

Now I have long given up on the so-called "perfect fitness plan". I am thankful that I can squeeze in 3 training sessions a week: I squeeze in 40 minutes of hip and leg training on Monday, with only 70% of the previous weight. I play badminton with my colleagues for an hour on Friday. I go to a Pilates class when I have time on Sunday. If I don't have time, I do 20 minutes of shoulder and neck stretching at home following the video. Occasionally I work overtime until nine o'clock, and I don't even have the strength to go upstairs after getting off the subway. I won't force myself to go to the gym to complete the KPI. I go home and soak my feet and do a few stretches, which is considered to have moved.

You see, fitness and buying skin care products are actually the same thing: Dry skin insists on using oil-controlling matte cream, sensitive skin insists on using high-concentration acid. In the end, if your face is ruined, you blame the bad product. Why bother? If you are extremely tired from work, don’t force yourself to get up an hour early every day to dance Pamela, walk for 20 minutes on the way after get off work, or go hiking in the park on weekends, which is also a good exercise. ； If you don't like lifting weights, there is no need to soak up the strength area to "keep your buttocks and waistcoat line", learn jazz, dance, or even dance square dance with the aunt in the community. As long as you can persist, the effect will not be bad.

Oh, by the way, there is another little detail that many people haven’t mentioned: if you feel irritable every time after practicing and get scared when you see the gym, then no matter how good this method is praised by others, it is not a good method for you. In the final analysis, fitness is to make you more comfortable, not to add another KPI that makes you internally exhausted.

To put it bluntly, is there any unified "best method"? Once you finish practicing, your whole body feels relaxed, you can continue happily, and your physical condition becomes more and more in line with your expectations. This is already the best answer.