Exercise, an unavoidable aspect for humanity since ancient times.
Ranging from athletes training daily to children running around in school, as long as the movement is substantial enough, it can be called exercise.
Prison workout exercises consist of push-ups, squats, pull-ups, hanging leg raises, bridging, and handstands, which can train most of the human muscle groups.
A few days before resigning to return to his hometown, Wang Longhu started learning to exercise by following the postures in the book.
Since graduation, he became a corporate slave, with a 9-to-6 workday routine leaving Wang Longhu no chance to exercise. After years of work, his fitness level was worse than during high school.
Nowadays, he could only do 9 push-ups in one go, 20 squats, 6 pull-ups, 2 hanging leg raises, and couldn't even do one bridge or handstand.
Moreover, lung cancer causes him to experience shortness of breath and chest and abdominal pains, and sometimes he coughs up blood.
This made meeting the required reps per set in the prison workout book impossible for Wang Longhu, and this was just the beginner movements.
The advanced single-arm push-ups, single-leg squats, one-arm pull-ups, straight leg raises, back bridges, and handstand push-ups were unimaginable for Wang Longhu at his current level.
But fortunately, as long as one is willing to endure hardship and persist, one's physical fitness can improve, and while his body still functions like a normal person, not yet deteriorated to the point of being bedridden or unable to walk,
Wang Longhu intended to exercise fiercely before his illness worsened completely, using the panel as a self-rescue tool.
Remembering the exercise postures he needed to do, Wang Longhu put down the book and looked at the panel, feeling wistful: "Back in school, I always said if I had a proficiency panel,
I could see proficiency +1 for memorizing English words, math formulas, classical poems, and essays, and would surely top both science and arts, but I didn't expect it to come true now."
Despite his emotions, Wang Longhu skillfully laid on the ground and began doing wide grip push-ups slowly.
As a home exercise, push-ups are widely loved by the public, and the movement has therefore diversified into many forms like leaning forward push-ups, wide grip push-ups, diamond push-ups, archer push-ups, and wave push-ups.
However, no matter which type of push-up is performed, posture must be correct, and speed must be steady.
Incorrect posture or too fast a pace can double the effort and halve the effect, even resulting in muscle injury.
The prison workout requires 20 push-ups per set, and Wang Longhu moved his arms rhythmically, deliberately controlling his breathing while maintaining a steady pace.
Reaching the eighth push-up, his arms began to tremble clearly. Wang Longhu gritted his teeth, blood frothing from his gums, pushing all his strength to break his record.
For those who don't exercise, arm and leg strength are often soft, making it challenging to do many push-ups in one go.
So Wang Longhu set a goal, to always do one more push-up than the last time, no matter how uncomfortable he felt, continuing even if it was hard,
so the number would increase, and his arm strength would improve.
Bam.
After completing the tenth push-up, Wang Longhu collapsed onto the ground, his arms weak, unable to muster the strength.
However, he did not rest too long. After a few deep breaths, Wang Longhu stood up, crossed his hands behind his waist, and began the second type of exercise, squats.
With life racing against illness, Wang Longhu dared not let a hint of slackness or laziness.
An hour later.
Covered in sweat, Wang Longhu lay on the floor, panting heavily, hair plastered in strands to his forehead, feeling uncomfortable.
At this moment, he felt utterly drained of energy, fatigued and sore from head to toe, only his mind remained in his control.
[Name: Wang Longhu]
[Strength: 0.83（+）]
[Constitution: 0.71（+）]
[Spirit: 0.88（+）]
[Skill: Basic Fitness Lv2 (0/200)]
[Potential Points: 0.05]
Summoning the panel, Wang Longhu was surprised by the attributes shown above.
He knew well that workout could increase attributes, strength, and constitution both rose by 0.01 in today's bout of exercise.
Where he found surprise was the potential points, always a zero before, now showed change.
Though a mere 0.05, it was enough to excite Wang Longhu.
"My Basic Fitness went from Level 1 to Level 2, and just then, potential points increased. Could this be a reward, gaining potential points to enhance attributes by leveling up skills?"
Wang Longhu considered this and chose to click the plus sign behind the constitution.
Among the three attributes, his constitution was indeed too lacking, relating often to stamina and endurance.
Fully aware of why he couldn't do many push-ups, Wang Longhu planned to prioritize improving his constitution.
As the constitution increased by 0.05, a sudden heat arose within Wang Longhu's body, making him involuntarily let out a comfortable moan.
The heat was as fast to appear as it was to vanish, and Wang Longhu found his soreness reduced significantly. Previously needing minutes to move his limbs, he could now walk immediately.
"How remarkable." Wang Longhu was deeply shaken; if this mysterious heat could continuously aid his recovery, working out for consecutive 12 hours would be a cinch.
Arriving at Dong County by 3 PM, working out for an hour now brought the time close to 5 PM.
While working in Hang City, his 12-square-meter rental for 1700 a month only had a bathroom, lacking a place to cook, compelling him to rely on takeout for lunch and dinner.
Now back in his hometown, naturally, he couldn't continue depriving his stomach. After a shower and changing into clean clothes, Wang Longhu stepped out, heading to a nearby market to buy ingredients for dinner.
Exiting the alley onto the main road and walking down the main road, he saw many parents with school bags, picking up children after school.
Mostly, mothers held their children's small hands, walking home joyfully.
Wang Longhu silently quickened his pace, passing ahead of these people, as he didn't want to see this sight.
At 25, he thought about his mother and how devastated she would be if he weren't there.
"I must survive," Wang Longhu resolutely thought, watching the traffic, his determination unwavering: "Raise my constitution high enough. If 10 points can't save me, then 100, 1000 points."
...
Lingbei Community is located on a hill dozens of meters high, and walking down the only road for two or three hundred meters led to Dong County's largest market.
As Wang Longhu arrived at the market entrance, he saw many tricycles parked beside the road. On the back, wooden boards were laid as makeshift tables, filled with large pieces of pork and beef laid out by the owners.
"Beef, 36 a pound, selling cheap."
"Ribs, ribs, freshly slaughtered today."
Venders inside the market had to pay for spaces, but selling at the roadside avoided this fee.
Intense exercise left Wang Longhu truly hungry, and observing the meat, his gaze fixed, mind quickly pondering his dinner plans.
Green pepper beef? Or braised ribs.
"Hey handsome, want some freshly cooked bone soup?"
While Wang Longhu pondered, a middle-aged vendor next to him smilingly asked.
The vendor's tricycle carried two large aluminum pots, one white soup and one red, both brimming with juicy pig bones.
The white soup had a fresh aroma, the red soup was spicy, all with an irresistible fragrance, whetting one's appetite.
"Give me two," Wang Longhu gestured a "yea" sign, receiving a straw and transparent gloves from the vendor, standing by to gnaw and suck the marrow right away.
Unsure if relaxed from returning home or due to the physical exertion, Wang Longhu's stomach was especially greedy.
After consuming eight pig bones, feeling slightly full and satisfied, he removed his gloves, intending to pay.
"How much in total, boss?"
"Eighteen per bone."
Wang Longhu was momentarily stunned, not by the price of pig bones, but by noticing an additional 0.01 potential point on his panel.
Could it be that eating also gains potential points?
Why didn't I notice this effect when I was in Hang City?