Last week, the editor brought you Prisoner Fitness - The True Power Book (Chapter 3, Part 1). Now, the editor brings you the second part: ModernFitness's scam
I applaud anyone who gets off the couch and works out, but among the many people who hit the gym (and you may be one of them), there are a few who actually achieve their goals. What about fitness goals? The sad truth is that most people exercise using the methods described above with little success. Those dedicated guys "trudge" to the gym week after week, but maybe except for the initial little progress, there is almost no change in them, let alone reaching peak physical fitness.
And this is the case for those bodybuilders who insist on exercising. 90% of people will quit after two months because they don’t see results. Considering the lack of improvement in slimming down and such a lackluster approach, who would have the heart to blame a bodybuilder who has lost motivation? In California in the 1950s, some gym chains offered lifetime memberships at affordable prices. "Lifelong" means that as long as you pay the amount due once, you can come to the gym to train at any time, which is valid for life. Sounds like a good deal? Not bad, sure, but that's for gym owners. Of the many people who spend money, 99% quit after a few months and never want to come back. In fact, gym owners know this very well, and this situation is completely expected by them. Therefore, the dropout rate at gyms is surprisingly high.
Is this the case for you too? If you had ever walked into the gym with great passion and good intentions, would you have given up soon? If this isn't you, you may have heard of others having similar experiences. But if going to the gym is as valuable as advertised, why are dropout rates so high? People aren't getting the results they want through exercise, and that should be part of the answer. A regular workout schedule at the gym is not only inefficient, but also inconvenient. Not just training, you have to face it firstThe problem is how to get to the gym. Opening a gym requires a large space to accommodate enough equipment. Most gym owners can't afford to rent land in the heart of the city, so they usually rent or buy an empty space in the suburbs or older towns. As a result, most exercisers have to drive or take public transportation. Before departure, you should not only prepare sportswear and gym bags, but also bring membership cards, water and toiletries. How many people are still in the mood to prepare these things after a hard day of work or a day of class?
When you get to the gym, you will find that the equipment you want to use is often used by others - more often during non-working hours. Doing nothing in a gym full of smelly, sweaty people isn't exactly comfortable (unless that's your hobby).
Then why do people still ask for trouble? Because there is propaganda everywhere - if you want to have a perfect body, you have to go to the gym. If you want to be the center of attention, you must become a gym member; if you want to have clear abdominal muscles and well-developed pectoralis major muscles, you must use expensive fitness equipment; if you want to avoid sports injuries, you need professional sports shoes ; If you want to get bigger, you need to eat protein powder or other nutritional supplements...Why are you telling us this? Everyone, in the end, it’s all about money. The "experts" in the commercials tell you that if you want to build your pectoralis major, abdominal muscles, or other muscles, you need this or that piece of equipment. In fact, they are the guys who make a living selling these things. The same is true for nutritional supplements. Those magazines whose main content is to showcase professional bodybuilders and promote nutritional supplements are not funded by bodybuilding enthusiasts. Professional bodybuilding itself is not as profitable as imagined. These magazines are either sponsored by or published by the companies that produce these nutritional supplements—the latter being the majority. However, the physiques of the bodybuilders in these publications were not the result of protein powder, but steroids.
In a modern society driven by money, the so-called healthy lifestyles promoted by businesses to the general public are actually a huge lie. Most consumers fall for scams. The truth is, you don’t need all this crap to reach peak strength and fitness.
All you need is your own body, correct knowledge, and a decisive attitude.
1. Exercise with your own body weight requires very few equipment
AbsolutelyNo strength training system is more consistent with these two principles of "independence" and "simplification" than using your own body weight. Even those who are into weight training have to admit this.
For "old school" gymnastics masters, their body is a gym. In fact, most gymnastics movements do not require equipment. Sometimes you may want to use some external objects to increase the intensity of the movements, but you can find such objects without leaving home. You need something you can grab onto, something you can hang in the air, and you can find it just by looking - a door, a pipe, even a tree trunk. You don't need to go to a gym at all, and even to work out at home you won't need a lot of space - just a spot the same size as your body (sometimes even smaller) will suffice.
Unlike other strength training systems, which require the use of metal weights, ropes, chains or certain equipment to apply resistance to you, most gymnastics movements utilize the resistance most readily available to you - Your own weight. No need to go to the gym or use fitness equipment, which means you don’t have to prepare a lot of things, so your home won’t be cluttered. Plus, it means you can work out anytime, anywhere - on vacation, on a business trip or at work, no matter where you are. That's why gymnastics has survived and thrived in prisons, where exercise machines are few and far between and inmates have no choice of housing and are sometimes kept in solitary confinement.
Another big advantage is that Gymnastics training does not cost money. No equipment means no investment, no gym means no membership fees – ever.