Chapter 8: Prematurely Aging from Work?

"What?"

"My body is three years older than my actual age?" Chen Jue put on his glasses and took a closer look at the physical assessment report.

Li Chaoyun was at his side, diligently explaining the details to Chen Jue.

The report was filled with data, covering everything from body water, protein, and bone mass to skeletal muscle, waist-to-hip ratio, visceral fat, and even metabolic rate and nutritional assessment.

Most importantly, the machine could also measure a person’s "body age."

For example, Chen Jue was 29, but due to various unhealthy lifestyle habits, his body’s current condition had aged three years faster than his actual age.

"Damn it!"

"Getting old before my time?"

’Is this the price of having a job? I’m literally burning away my lifespan!’ Chen Jue was shaken, even a little panicked. He casually asked if the machine was accurate.

After all, his health was on the line. How could Chen Jue not be concerned?

Seeing his reaction, Li Chaoyun chuckled. "The base model of this machine sells for 35,000 online. This one was custom-ordered by our boss from the manufacturer for 50,000. If it wasn’t accurate, what would be the point of buying it? Just for kicks?"

When Chen Jue heard how expensive the machine was, he had no more arguments.

There was no reason for the fitness coach to lie to him. He could just take a picture and search for the price online.

"Coach Li, is my situation serious?"

"Can it be fixed with exercise?" Chen Jue asked nervously.

"I can’t guarantee that."

"I’m a fitness coach, not a doctor."

"But consistent exercise is very effective! I’ve trained many clients whose initial reports were even worse than yours. After they trained for a while and got tested again, they almost all showed improvement." Li Chaoyun offered a few words of comfort before leading Chen Jue out of the small cubicle.

As for the report, he let Chen Jue take it home for reference.

...

After his first physical assessment, Chen Jue was more convinced than ever that he needed to make a change.

If he kept going like this, his body age would probably shoot past 40.

Son of a bitch!

He wasn’t even 30 yet!

Was just having a job really costing him years of his life?

Of course, Li Chaoyun had no idea what was going through Chen Jue’s mind. He led the anxious Chen Jue to the workout area.

"Your right hand is injured and needs to rest and recover, so we can’t do any upper-body machines today."

"I’ll have you warm up with some aerobic running first, and then we’ll do a few sets of targeted lower-body exercises." Li Chaoyun explained as he had Chen Jue get on the treadmill.

He pressed the start button, set a suitable flat incline, and began to gradually increase the treadmill’s speed.

At first, Chen Jue didn’t feel tired while walking slowly; it was as relaxing as a casual stroll after a meal.

But once the speed picked up, he only managed to run for a little over two minutes before he couldn’t take it anymore and started gasping for air.

"Treadmills generally have 10 speed levels."

"Levels 1 and 2 are for a slow walk, and 3 to 4 are for a brisk walk. Your body fat percentage is high right now, so running at level 5 or above is suitable for fat loss."

"Since it’s your first time, let’s see if you can last for 10 minutes."

Seeing that Chen Jue’s stamina was a bit weak and that he was about to give out after just a short run, Li Chaoyun quickly reached out and lowered the speed, slowing him from a run to a brisk walk.

By the time the 10-minute brisk walk was over, Chen Jue was dead on his feet.

"I can’t... I can’t go on... Let me catch my breath..." Chen Jue gasped, stopping the treadmill.

He felt that this 10-minute warm-up of running and brisk walking was more than ten times more tiring than the 25-minute bike-share ride from yesterday.

Fortunately, his effort was rewarded. A notification popped up on the panel in his vision.

——————

[Ding~]

[Completed a qualifying aerobic exercise]

[Assignable Free Attribute Points +0.01]

——————

[Ding~]

[Completed a qualifying cardiopulmonary workout]

[Constitution Attribute +0.01]

——————

"Aha?"

’The more tired I get, the bigger the reward?’

’Heaven rewards the diligent... No, wait, the panel rewards the diligent!’ Looking at the notification, Chen Jue immediately added the attribute point he just earned to his Constitution.

The Constitution Attribute rose to 0.93.

A warm current flowed through him, and his heavy panting eased slightly.

Li Chaoyun, who was watching from the side, looked surprised. "Looks like your recovery ability is pretty good! Most people need to rest for ten-plus minutes to catch their breath after their first time on a treadmill."

"It’s... it’s alright, I guess!" Chen Jue gave an awkward smile.

He knew his own situation best.

’My body is so damn weak. If it weren’t for the boost from adding a point to Constitution, I’d probably be lying on the floor right now.’

However, Chen Jue’s interest was piqued by the term "aerobic exercise" that the coach had mentioned. Since it kept appearing on his panel, he took the opportunity during his break to ask for more details.

"Aerobic exercise refers to any form of exercise that primarily uses aerobic metabolism. Its main characteristic is that it accelerates fat burning. Things like jogging, brisk walking, cycling, and Swimming are all aerobic exercises, which are well-suited for your current high body fat situation."

"As for anaerobic exercise, that’s high-speed, intense movement where the muscles are in an oxygen-deprived state. It’s characterized by high intensity and a fast pace, causing a higher heart rate and rapid breathing. Squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are all examples of anaerobic exercise."

Li Chaoyun was a professional fitness coach, so answering a client’s questions was part of his job. Besides, a good attitude was key to closing a sale, so he showed no impatience and explained everything to Chen Jue in detail.

Chen Jue worked in risk control data analysis. He was good at math, a quick thinker, and had strong learning, memory, and comprehension abilities.

He had just never been exposed to the world of fitness before, so this was all new to him.

After having someone walk him through it once, he now had a general idea and a basic, broad impression of fitness training.

’I never expected there’d be so much to learn about working out.’

’I’ll have to look this up online later. I can’t just exercise blindly,’ Chen Jue thought to himself, glancing at his right arm, which was covered in pain-relief patches.

Last night, he’d been too reckless, purely chasing the joy of increasing his Stone Skimming Level, and ended up trashing his arm.

Having learned his lesson the hard way, Chen Jue was much more cautious now.

He felt that with exercise, you had to take things step-by-step.

...

After the running warm-up and about a five-minute rest, Li Chaoyun took Chen Jue over to a seated leg press machine.

"This machine is specifically for training the quadriceps and gluteus maximus—the muscles around our thighs."

"I’ll demonstrate first. Pay attention to the key points of my form." Li Chaoyun sat on the machine and adjusted the weight stack, marked with yellow numbers, to the very bottom setting.

Then, with a light push, the entire stack of weights was lifted into the air by the machine’s mechanism.

Chen Jue glanced at the weight stack and was completely dumbfounded.

"Holy shit!"

’What’s 400 pounds?’

’About 180 kilograms?’

’He’s that damn strong?!’ Chen Jue was stunned by Coach Li’s leg strength.

Especially seeing how effortless it looked for him, it was clear the machine couldn’t even measure the upper limit of his leg strength.

"This machine is still pretty easy. Since you’re just starting out and your lower body strength isn’t that high, it’s best to start at 100 pounds and slowly work your way up."

"Once your strength increases, there are more advanced methods. You can move on to that incline leg press over there. You load that one with weight plates, and the limit can go over 400 kilograms." Perhaps noticing Chen Jue’s shock, Li Chaoyun smiled faintly and pointed to another leg press machine in the distance.

"Holy... fucking... shit!"

’400 kilograms?’

’I struggle to carry a 10-kilogram bag of rice!’

’That’s like leg-pressing a stack of 40 of those bags at once?’ The number made Chen Jue’s head buzz. It was a real eye-opener.

He’d seen videos online where people in the comments section were saying that gym-built muscles were "dead muscles"—all show and no go. A bunch of people would just leave sarcastic, snide remarks.

Chen Jue wanted to see those keyboard warriors try to leg-press 400 kilograms.

Let’s see if their "living muscles" could handle that much weight!

...

Still in a daze, he sat on the machine and tested his leg press.

Well then!

The most Chen Jue could press was 200 pounds, about 90 kilograms.

Anything heavier than that and he really started to struggle.

Following Coach Li’s instructions, Chen Jue did a set of 15 reps, then tried to analyze the reference values of his panel’s Attributes. ’Strength Attribute 0.77, and my two legs max out at about 90 kilograms.’

’Then Coach Li’s Strength... isn’t it over 1.5 or even 2.0?’

He then glanced again at Li Chaoyun’s massive, sculpted physique. He figured the coach’s Strength had to be at least double, maybe even triple, his own.

The thought that he too could potentially build such a powerful, muscular physique over time by allocating points fired him up. He started pressing the weights with extra vigor!

After gritting his teeth through five sets, his stamina was completely drained and his legs felt as hard as rocks. Finally, Chen Jue saw a few familiar lines of pixelated text appear on the panel.

——————

[Ding~]

[Completed a qualifying anaerobic exercise]

[Free Attribute Points +0.01]

——————

[Ding~]

[After a period of exercise, your leg muscle groups have grown slightly.]

[Strength Attribute +0.01]