Should You Focus on Cardio or Strength Training?

A wise person keeps their skills hidden, waiting for the right moment to act.

For everyone who works out, sometimes there’s a struggle: should I do anaerobic or aerobic exercise? In other words, should I be lifting weights or running?

I once struggled with this too, but once I understood the principles, I stopped worrying about it.

I have also recorded some feelings and insights from my recent fitness practice.

1. What are the roles of anaerobic and aerobic exercise?

Why is it that people with more muscle can eat a lot without gaining much weight, while those with less muscle gain weight and fat as soon as they eat? Because fat is for energy storage, while muscle is for energy consumption.

If your fitness goal is purely for a better body, to enhance cardiorespiratory function, to improve blood sugar and lipids or keep them at standard levels, and you don’t have high requirements for physique, then aerobic exercise is enough. If you want more than that and also desire a better physique, then you must incorporate anaerobic exercise.

Just look at the physiques of sprinters versus long-distance runners, and you’ll know the difference between anaerobic and aerobic exercise.

2. How important is sleep?

Getting to sleep early is crucial; it directly determines muscle synthesis efficiency, body fat percentage, and training performance. 70% of the body’s growth hormone is secreted during deep sleep at night. Staying up late leads to elevated cortisol, a hormone that breaks down muscle and accelerates fat storage. It is best to go to bed by 23:00 and get 7.5-9 hours of sleep. Don't scroll on your phone when you should be sleeping, and don't feel sleepy when you should be working.

3. Should you continue to exercise when a body part hurts?

For example, if your knees or lower back hurt, should you keep exercising? The answer is that you can adjust your exercise routine to continue. For instance, if running causes knee pain, stop running and do wall sits to increase leg muscle strength and rebuild the leg muscles to protect the knees. Do squats, but ensure your knees do not go past your toes, which also strengthens the muscles around the knees to better protect them.

When your lower back hurts, you can temporarily pause heavy lifting or movements that strain the back. However, you can perform the "Bird-Dog" or "Superman" exercises while lying prone to offset the lower back strain caused by prolonged sitting and human forward-leaning movement. A veteran bodyweight training enthusiast once said: wherever it hurts or feels uncomfortable, train that area to make the muscle groups in that region stronger.

4. What should you eat for fitness?

Eat more protein and vegetables, supplement vitamins in moderation, and consume a small amount of carbohydrates.

Foods rich in protein: eggs, beef, chicken breast, and legumes.

Vitamins: All kinds of vegetables. Just eat green and dark-colored ones; no need to focus too much on specific types.

Carbohydrates: Divided into slow-digesting and fast-digesting. Eat the former before training, and the latter after training to help the body synthesize muscle. Slow carbs: oatmeal, sweet potatoes, etc. Fast carbs: steamed buns, rice.

5. How many times a week should you train?

You can work out 6 times a week, ideally with one aerobic session included among those 6. Do not train the same muscles on two consecutive days. Generally, muscle recovery requires more than 24 hours; you need to give your muscles time to recover, otherwise, you will get half the result with twice the effort. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/v-1yVueH9eJhR7myc4OEpw

6. How do you get positive reinforcement?

Sticking to something isn't about willpower; it’s about providing continuous positive reinforcement that makes you truly love the activity.

• Take off your shirt and look in the mirror often to see the changes in various muscle groups, and observe changes in your posture and physique.
• Frequently touch your muscles with your hands to feel their changes. You must "feel" them, as Bruce Lee said: "how does it feel to you?" What is your perception of it? https://weixin.qq.com/sph/A2s2RHFzt

7. What can you do if you don't have equipment?

Often, it’s not convenient to go to the gym, so you can do some bodyweight exercises.

• Tyson-style push-ups: Why recommend this instead of traditional push-ups? Because it works both the upper and lower body, not just the upper chest muscles. Relatively speaking, it is more interesting.

• Squats: This is also a great movement for the lower body and core. If you feel the intensity is not enough, you can add some weight, but be careful not to hurt your knees—just ensure your knees do not pass your toes during the flexion.

• Prone leg raises: A great movement for the lower abs that can be done in 1-3 sets anytime, anywhere.

These three movements cover almost all the muscle groups in the body. If you are too busy to go to the gym or run, then take note of these three movements and do them often.

8. How is human muscle formed?

Muscle is formed by both innate and acquired factors. We are mainly discussing the acquired process here. Three essential conditions are required:

• Appropriate exercise stimulus: that is, anaerobic exercise or resistance training.
• Caloric support: protein and carbohydrates are both essential components. It's just that relatively speaking, protein is harder to obtain and requires conscious dietary choices, whereas you consume carbohydrates inadvertently.
• Sufficient sleep and rest: A fun fact is that muscles only grow when you are resting and sleeping, especially during deep sleep, which accelerates repair and reconstruction. Therefore, sleep is truly vital. https://preview.prompttoui.com/p/7952e113f9 https://preview.prompttoui.com/p/084471ba72

9. How is human fat formed?

The formation of human fat is essentially a protective physiological mechanism for storing excess energy. When the calories you consume exceed the calories your body burns, the human body converts the excess energy into fat for storage. Consumption is the reverse: just make the calorie intake less than the calorie expenditure. https://preview.prompttoui.com/p/9f6c0f86c6

The above is a summary of my recent fitness practice.