0127 The Scientific Operating Principles of Internal Energy?

"Is this level of exercise enough to trigger attribute gains already?"

Chen Jue stared at the panel's activity, feeling somewhat incredulous. Recently, he had clearly felt that his attribute gains from ordinary exercise had begun to drop significantly. It was unlike when he first acquired the panel, where a simple game of skipping stones, riding a bike, or climbing stairs would cause his stats to soar. The reason yesterday's swimming session was so efficient was that, being submerged in water, his body had been subjected to resistance and pressure, increasing his exertion levels several times over compared to usual. He hadn't expected that by wearing two small pieces of equipment, his workout results would rival those of swimming training; it truly exceeded his expectations.

"No wonder Instructor Li Rui needs to spend so much time organizing his materials."

"This type of novel training method is indeed incomparable to ordinary exercise," Chen Jue thought to himself.

After finishing a set of pull-ups, he took advantage of the rest period to remove the oxygen-restriction mask. This thing couldn't be worn indefinitely; wearing it for too long could lead to symptoms similar to altitude sickness, which in turn could damage the body. Li Rui had specifically highlighted the precautions for using such equipment in the customized training plan he had sent. It was precisely because of these significant risks that the domestic sports community, which favored stability, had not promoted it on a large scale.

As for the blood-flow restriction bands, Chen Jue had strapped on four in total: a pair on his arms and a pair on his thighs. After completing 30 pull-ups, he could clearly feel a slight swelling and numbness in his limbs, and the muscle protrusion was much more pronounced than usual.

"Let's try again!"

Seeing this, Chen Jue waited for half a minute to rest and relax before putting the oxygen-restriction mask back on. This time, instead of using the assisted pull-up bar, he sat down at a seated rowing machine. He adjusted the weight stack to 200 pounds, gripped the handles, and pulled back, lifting it with ease.

"It's that simple?"

Chen Jue was surprised. He vaguely remembered that when he first went to the E-Train Gym, pulling 80 pounds had been quite a struggle. He hadn't expected that after a period of training, his arm strength had increased so much! Previously, he had only done street workouts without equipment and hadn't measured his pulling strength in detail, so he lacked a frame of reference. Relying on his gut feeling, he adjusted the weight stack all the way to 400 pounds.

400 pounds was the upper limit for this seated rowing machine at the Jiang University public gym. Chen Jue pulled hard with both hands and, again, felt it was easy, lifting it without much effort.

"No way!"

"Am I this strong after popping a pre-workout?" Chen Jue, skeptical, switched from two hands to one. This time, he hit a wall; the 400-pound stack didn't budge with one hand. After adjusting it a few more times, he eventually determined that his maximum single-arm pulling capacity was 300 pounds. However, since this was his limit, it wasn't suitable for training, so he adjusted the weight to 150 pounds for single-arm rows. He alternated between his left and right hands, performing 30 reps per set. After five sets, the panel flashed another notification:

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[Ding~]
[Completed a workout that exceeds your anaerobic limits. Your upper limb blood flow has been restricted by external pressure, accelerating local metabolism. Through mechanical exertion, your upper limb and back muscle groups have received highly efficient training.]
[Strength Attribute +0.02]
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"Hiss... phew..."

"That's incredible!"

Chen Jue pulled the mask off his face and gasped for fresh air. Five sets of single-arm rows wouldn't normally be very taxing, but with the combined effect of the oxygen-restriction mask and the blood-flow restriction bands, the exertion surged as if he were using a 3x experience scroll, and the training effects manifested naturally. Moreover, Chen Jue noticed that after finishing the single-arm rows, the muscles at the restriction points were visibly thicker and larger. The visual impact of the bulging muscles looked as if they had been inflated.

"This effect is a bit like Popeye eating spinach... Wait! This looks like that internal energy technique from the 'Hunyuan Hand Old Urchin'!"

Chen Jue stared at his thickened arms, suddenly recalling the video blogger he had been following who claimed to practice internal energy. He hurriedly pulled out his phone and searched through the past videos of the "Hunyuan Hand Old Urchin." Sure enough, Chen Jue saw similar bands on the man's wrists. However, the man was wearing traditional martial arts wrist guards, while Chen Jue was using Western-style BFR (Blood Flow Restriction) bands that allowed for manual pressure adjustment, which was clearly more logical and scientific.

"In other words, the 'Old Urchin's' ability to inflate his hands with internal energy is based on a blood-restriction principle similar to BFRT?" Chen Jue's eyes flickered, as if he had discovered a startling secret.

However, after seeing another video where the Old Urchin could make his hands bulge without wearing any wrist guards, Chen Jue was confused again.

"That old man definitely has real skills!"

"To achieve similar muscle hypertrophy and engorgement without external constraints... there must be something else in there besides the blood-restriction principle." Chen Jue put his phone down and analyzed this for a while, feeling deeply moved. He believed that among China's billions of people, there were truly hidden masters. The Old Urchin's internal energy didn't just achieve localized expansion of the limbs; it also significantly enhanced the impact resistance of his hands. After activating his technique, he could smash through cement slabs, making him much more impressive than those scammers who claimed to break bricks with an inch punch.

"When I have the chance, I should visit this master and see if I can learn his internal energy."

"If it could be recorded by the panel as a skill, it would definitely be a huge help!" Chen Jue thought to himself. He put aside his wandering thoughts, put the oxygen-restriction mask back on, and resumed training.

...

After hitting the iron at the gym for a total of 60 minutes, aided by the two new pieces of exercise equipment, Chen Jue's attribute values kept landing "critical hits" like a player in a private game server. After one hour of training, his [Strength] attribute had accumulated a gain of 0.08, his [Physique] attribute had gained 0.03, and he had also earned 0.04 in free attribute points.

These attributes weren't limited to his arms but were distributed across his entire body, involving the upper limbs, lower limbs, and core muscle groups. The [Physique] attribute gain was mainly concentrated on his cardiopulmonary function, as the two pieces of equipment restricted oxygen and blood supply, corresponding exactly to the heart and lungs.

In addition, Chen Jue also tested the explosive power of his legs. Using the leg press machine at the gym, he successfully pushed 600 kilograms of weight plates. Such an astonishing weight left Wang Xin and the other gym-goers stunned! One by one, they called their senior "a monster," took photos to motivate themselves, and planned to post them online to show off the "god-like human" of Jiang University.

However, the leg press machine is known in the fitness world as a "confidence amplifier," and the data isn't entirely accurate. Because of its 45-degree angle construction, if you calculate it using the sin45° trigonometric formula, the actual weight acting on the legs is only about 70% of the loaded weight. By this calculation, the limit of Chen Jue's leg explosive power was roughly around 420 kilograms. Compared to his more impressive upper body strength, his lower body strength was indeed slightly weaker and required continued training.

Of course, such high gains from an hour of training came at a price. With about 40 minutes left on the temporary attribute boost from the pre-workout, Chen Jue was completely exhausted. He felt as if his body had been hollowed out, no less intense than the lead-weighted exhaustion he felt after yesterday's swimming training. However, the panel did not show the [Extreme Fatigue] negative buff from yesterday, only a [High Fatigue] debuff. Apparently, after two days of attribute increases and sustained training, his body was slowly adapting to this high-intensity exercise that pushed past his limits.

While resting at the gym, Chen Jue observed Wang Xin and the others to learn the essentials of their machine movements, while finishing the supplements he had brought. Once his energy recovered slightly, he allocated all his newly acquired free attribute points to [Physique]. The magical warm current from the four points reduced his [High Fatigue] directly to [Mild Fatigue]. In this state, Chen Jue was able to move freely without collapsing.

After saying goodbye to Wang Xin and the others, Chen Jue left the campus and took a taxi directly to Tianyu for a massage and stretching. He had originally intended to learn yoga so he could practice stretching on his own at night, but seeing that the [Mild Fatigue] status didn't disappear after the massage, he shelved the idea for now. After finishing the stretching and recovery massage, he ate the buffet dinner at Tianyu and returned to his apartment early to soak in a medicinal bath and rest. Before falling asleep, he applied medicinal liquor and patches to the muscle groups he had trained, and under the influence of the [Mild Fatigue] status, he drifted off to sleep.

...

When he woke up, Chen Jue felt a slight soreness and stinging pain throughout his body; the [Mild Fatigue] debuff remained. Apparently, yesterday's workout had been too intense, and the aftereffects of oxygen and blood restriction were too strong for his usual recovery routine to be fully effective.

"I'll just take a day off!" Chen Jue muttered, deciding not to even head to the rooftop. As the morning sun rose, he pulled back the curtains and sat cross-legged on the bed to perform eye and ear massages.

Forty minutes later, his mind felt increasingly clear, and he was surprised to see the panel pop up a new notification:

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[Ding~]
[Through long-term acupoint stimulation and special mechanical wave resonance, your optic nerves and auditory centers have received highly effective training. Subtle changes have occurred in the cerebral cortex and brainstem responsible for audiovisual functions.]
[Your visual and auditory abilities have increased slightly, your reaction speed has been enhanced, and you have become more sensitive to changes in the external environment.]
[Physique Attribute +0.01]
[Spirit Attribute +0.01]
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