坐着干嘛，起来嗨！

》》》》》》》》一键领取入口《《《《《《《​

I've been having trouble using my arms lately.

我的胳膊最近遇到了些麻烦。

And that's a good thing.

但这是件好事。

They've been stiff because I started lifting weights about a month ago after years of living a largely sedentary lifestyle since moving to China in 2006.

我的胳膊之所以有些酸痛僵直，是因为在大约一个月前，我开始举重健身。这也是我自从2006年移居中国以来的第一次健身，之前我一直过着坐着不动的生活。

My extreme lack of physical activity was in no small part because I aspired to develop as a metaphorical "athlete" in the fields in which I work, which often require hours hunched behind a screen.

我极度缺乏体育锻炼，这在很大程度上源于我渴望成为行业中的“运动员”，而这通常需要我在电脑屏幕前，弓着腰坐很长时间。

That is, as a "bodybuilder", but the "muscle groups" are the skills, experience and CV development that typically didn't involve moving my actual body.

也就是说，作为一位工作岗位上的“健美”者，增强我的“肌肉群”，也就是丰富我的工作经历和简历，通常不涉及体力活。

For instance, before setting off on a 35-day business trip through 11 cities, during which filming often lasted for around 14 or more hours a day, I prepared myself by regarding it as a "marathon".

例如，在出发去11个城市进行为期35天的采访前，我像马拉松运动员一样做准备，因为出差时通常每天要持续拍摄约14个小时或更长时间的片子。

My body began to conspicuously shrivel during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time many people worldwide have been all the more beholden to our computers and phones.

在疫情期间，我的身体开始明显“枯萎”。在此期间，全世界许多人都更痴迷于自己的电脑和手机。

I honestly didn't have time or energy during the epidemic's early period, when I was busier than ever with work and two kids stuck at home. I barely slept then.

老实说，我在疫情初期就比以往任何时候都忙于工作，还要照顾两个孩子。我缺乏时间和精力，晚上基本没睡过觉。

Finally, I hit rock bottom in terms of physical atrophy.

最终，我在的身体虚弱到了最低点。

So, I ordered weights from Taobao.

所以我从淘宝订购了一对哑铃。

And, so far, I've stuck with it, exercising four or five days a week.

到目前为止，我每周持续锻炼四到五天。

I've already increased the number of reps I do from 75 to up to 250 per day and sometimes over 500 if I include exercises that don't use weights. I've also increased the heaviness of the barbells, dumbbells and kettle bell I use.

我每天的举重次数从刚开始的每日75次增加到现在的250次。如果算上不涉及举重的运动，有时会超过每天500次。我还增加了杠铃、哑铃和壶铃的重量。

Much of the inspiration came from a recent Zoom chat with a childhood friend, who became a bodybuilder in prison and a trainer when he got out. He did his morning routine with Atlas stones while we chatted.

我的动力大部分来自于最近与一个儿时挚友的Zoom聊天。他在监狱里时酷爱健身，出狱后成为了一位专职健身教练。我们聊天时，他一边跟我通话一边用阿特拉斯石健身。

Years ago, Mike Dugger cut off his pinky in an intoxicated rage. He then began to sculpt his body to look like a Greek god's.

多年前，迈克·杜格喝醉后割下了他的小手指。之后，他开始像希腊神话中人物似的“雕刻”自己的身体。

He later told me he not only replaced his heroin addiction with a healthy addiction but rather with an addiction to health itself. He works as a certified personal trainer, although the outbreak means local gyms remain closed.

后来他告诉我，通过健身，他把之前对海洛因的毒瘾变成了“健身瘾”。他现在是一位获得专业认证的私人健身教练，尽管疫情期间健身房的关闭。

Before his last prison stint — after which he absolutely turned his life around, largely through fitness — his addiction left him in a state where he didn't even brush his teeth. Today, he's not only functional but, rather, hyper-functional.

他现在完全依靠健身，彻底改变了自己的生活和命运，在进监狱之前，他的毒瘾甚至他停止了刷牙。如今，他不仅过着正常人的生活，还具有健身给他带来的“超能力。”

We've established an annual tradition for three years when I return to my hometown, in which Mike puts me on his back and squats me. Each time, he breaks the previous year's record.

我们在过去三年建立了一个年度传统：每当我回到家乡时，麦克都会将我拎在他的背上做蹲起。每年他都会打破前一年的记录。

Last year, he lifted me 50 times. 

去年，他举着我做了50次蹲起。

Since I can't travel to the United States this year, Mike may have to replace my body with equivalently heavy weights and we may have to do it over videoconference.

由于我今年无法回到美国，麦克可能不得不用跟我一样重的哑铃，一边跟我视频一边做蹲起了。

While I'm not trying to replace an addiction with exercise, I have increasingly found myself feeling a compulsive craving for the very discomfort — the proverbial "burn" — I'd spent over a decade making excuses to avoid.

尽管我并不像麦克一样，用运动代替什么别的习惯，但我越来越渴望运动后浑身酸痛的感觉，这可能就是众所周知肌肉的“燃烧”吧。而我却花了十年找借口来避免这种酸痛的感觉。

These included everything from being too tired after working overtime and even sometimes believing I was honorably sacrificing my health to make greater advances in the fields I work in and to exceed in other responsibilities, such as parenting.

我之前给自己找了很多借口：有时候我觉得自己加班后太累了，甚至认为牺牲自己的健康，在从事的领域取得更大的进步是一件引以为豪的事；还有时候我以看孩子作为借口不去健身。

There may be some truth to these beyond mere justification for avoiding pain — albeit the kind of hurt that releases surges of dopamine, serotonin and other feel-good neurotransmitters.

这些借口也许情有可原，也可能不仅是单纯为了避免健身后的酸痛 —— 尽管健身后的酸痛会使大脑中多巴胺，5-羟色胺和其他感觉良好的神经递质激增。

But, ultimately, the greater truth was that I wasn't only weak physically but also in mental discipline, unless it had to do with work or duty to others.

但是，更大的真理是：我不仅身体虚弱，除了与工作有关的事务外，在心智上也很弱。

Perhaps next time I see Mike, I'll also see how many times I can, in turn, squat him.

也许下次我见到迈克时，我也会把他拎到我的背上，看我能做多少个蹲起。