Improving Training Methods

"Before I teach this method, I want to ask everyone something: do you know why exercise can improve physical fitness?"

Huo Yuhao swept his gaze over every classmate and saw the bewildered expressions on their faces. They only knew that exercise could improve physical fitness, but they had never considered why it could do so. It could even be said that few people across the entire Douluo Continent had ever thought about this question.

Seeing that no one answered, Huo Yuhao did not keep them in suspense and explained, "Exercise improves physical fitness mainly in two ways."

"The first is that exercise speeds up blood circulation and metabolism, thereby flushing certain impurities out of the body. At the same time, exercise intensifies our energy expenditure, and the body needs more energy to replenish it. Therefore, we must ensure adequate nutrition while exercising. Otherwise, if our energy intake cannot keep up with consumption, exercise will do more harm than good."

"The second aspect is the foundation of my training method."

"Our bodies have a particular characteristic. When a certain action and the positive stimulation it causes occur frequently, and when a particular part of the body is frequently damaged or pushed beyond its functional limit, the brain believes that area has a greater demand. It will then mobilize more energy to strengthen that part."

"And exercise is essentially using actions controlled by our conscious will to repeatedly stimulate parts of the body, tricking the brain into allocating more nutrients and energy to restore and strengthen those areas. That is why exercise can improve physical fitness."

Seeing the looks of realization on everyone's faces, Huo Yuhao continued.

"Based on the second reason, the more frequently we train a certain part of the body and the more thoroughly we damage it, the greater the enhancement that part receives after the body recovers. That is indeed correct, but there is one prerequisite: your body must be able to recover, or even recover within a certain period of time. That is the key to my training method."

"How do we grasp the right limit that allows the body to recover? In fact, our bodies give us signals on their own. When we exercise excessively, our bodies feel exhaustion, pain, and other sensations. Those feelings are telling us not to continue, that if we keep training, our bodies will suffer damage. Yet when those sensations appear, our bodies have not truly reached their limits. We can still keep training and bring ourselves closer to that limit. As long as we do not exceed the true limit, the damage caused by exercise can be promptly repaired by our bodies, and the effectiveness of our training will improve drastically."

"However, the body's limit is actually very difficult to grasp. A moment of carelessness and overtraining can cause irreversible damage. I am a spiritual-type Soul Master and can precisely grasp that line, but what should the rest of you do?"

"Actually, there is no need to worry too much. We are Soul Masters, and with Soul Power nourishing us, we have more options. If conditions permit, we can rely on Support System Soul Masters, Food-Type Soul Masters, medicine, and other means to help us recover and train. Even if we slightly exceed our limits, we can easily recover with their assistance."

At this point, Huo Yuhao's expression suddenly turned solemn. He said seriously, "Remember this: with this kind of training, you must make sure your nutrition keeps up, and you must make sure your body has fully recovered before beginning the next session. Otherwise, if you deplete your body and let minor ailments accumulate into serious illness, even healing-type Soul Masters will be unable to heal you. Your careers as Soul Masters will be over."

Everyone listened with great interest, carefully committing every word Huo Yuhao said to memory. They took his final solemn warning to heart as well. None of them wanted their careers as Soul Masters to end like that.

Huo Yuhao continued, "Since each part of the human body has different limits, we need different training methods for different areas. We cannot rely solely on weighted running. That is the only way to avoid serious injuries and make our training more efficient. Soul Masters with different Martial Souls can even train specifically for the areas they need, such as the explosive power of Agility Attack System Soul Masters or the arm strength of Power Attack System Soul Masters."

"Over the next month, I will gradually teach everyone methods for training every part of the body. Those who are interested may learn them."

"Class Monitor, just teach us. We'll all learn!" a student shouted.

Huo Yuhao spread his hands and pressed them downward. "Today, I'll first teach you warm-up exercises. I hope everyone will do these sets of movements before every workout. They can reduce injuries during exercise and bring all the muscles in our bodies into an active state."

"Follow me." Huo Yuhao taught the class each movement one by one, tirelessly correcting their forms. At the same time, he used Mental Detection to carefully observe every student's muscle changes, heartbeat, breathing, and other data, recording it all in his Sea of Consciousness.

These would all be crucial materials when he improved the training methods in the future.

It had to be said that Soul Masters learned everything quickly. Before long, everyone had completely mastered the few movements.

Seeing that everyone had warmed up enough, Huo Yuhao called out again, "This set of movements is all I'll be teaching today. I won't teach anything new today. Next, we'll proceed to the next stage of training. Today's exercise is—weighted running."

"Ah..." Someone sighed in disappointment. He had thought they would learn other movements today, but they still had to do weighted running.

Huo Yuhao smiled. "I know some of you are disappointed by running and want to learn other training exercises. But running truly is a very basic and practical training method."

"Most importantly, we can complete running exercises alone anytime and anywhere. Many other training methods require assistance from others or equipment."

"Today, I hope everyone can keep running until class ends. You can run slower, but you must keep running until class ends. This time, you don't need to worry about bodily harm from overtraining, because a Support System Teacher will come and treat us later."

The students of New Student Class One put on their Iron Clothes once more and began jogging around Shrek Square. Huo Yuhao also put on Iron Clothes and started running, while simultaneously dividing his attention to record everyone's changing data.

Soon, more than half a shichen had passed. Everyone was drenched in sweat, including Huo Yuhao himself. Droplets of sweat fell onto the track one after another, and everyone began slowing down.

According to Huo Yuhao's observations, some people were already close to their limits.

Sure enough, not long afterward, Huo Yuhao passed by a physically weaker female student just as her legs gave out and she was about to fall. He caught her at once.

Huo Yuhao handed her a bottle of water and encouraged her gently, "Run slowly. As long as you keep going, that's enough. Drink some water first, then I'll support you while you jog for a while."

"Class Monitor..." The female student took the water. Her sweat-soaked eyes stung with emotion, and she murmured the word softly. After taking a sip, she grabbed Huo Yuhao's arm and began jogging.

Huo Yuhao slowed down as well and gradually led her around the track. At the same time, Mental Detection recorded the data of students who were nearing or had already reached their limits. This data was even more valuable and could not be missed.

More students were unable to keep going, but after seeing Huo Yuhao and the female student, they did not stop. Instead, they continued running at a pace barely faster than walking.

Some classmates who still had strength left also followed Huo Yuhao's example, helping support those who could no longer endure so they could continue running together.