Finish resistance training
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@ -285,10 +285,10 @@ with these terms:
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* A barbell is a long metal bar (about 2 meters or 6 feet) that you
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* A barbell is a long metal bar (about 2 meters or 6 feet) that you
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usually hold with both
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usually hold with both
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hands.<br><img src="http://cdn-mf1.heartyhosting.com/sites/mensfitness.com/files/101-best-workouts-the-best-barbell-only-ab-workout-main_1.jpg" width="300">
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hands.<br><img src="/static/exercise/barbell.jpg" width="300">
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* A dumbbell is a shorter metal bar usually held in one hand<br><img src="http://exercises.youtrain.me.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/Dumbbell-Standing-Lunge-622x485.png" width="300">
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* A dumbbell is a shorter metal bar usually held in one hand<br><img src="/static/exercise/dumbbell.png" width="300">
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* A kettlebell is a weight with a handle on the top<br><img src="http://greatist.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/KBSwing.png?itok=WSm92mHT" width="300">
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* A kettlebell is a weight with a handle on the top<br><img src="/static/exercise/kettlebell.png" width="300">
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* A machine is some kind of, well, machine<br><img src="http://www.fitness-world.in/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GLPH1100-LEG-PRESS_HACK-SQUAT-MACHINE.jpg" width="300">
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* A machine is some kind of, well, machine<br><img src="/static/exercise/machine.jpg" width="300">
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Free weights have an advantage over machines in that they are
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Free weights have an advantage over machines in that they are
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_unstable_. This means you need to use more muscle groups to keep
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_unstable_. This means you need to use more muscle groups to keep
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@ -448,14 +448,175 @@ ways:
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* Changing the exercise you're doing (full pushups vs knee pushups)
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* Changing the exercise you're doing (full pushups vs knee pushups)
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A good program will build in this kind of progressive overload, as do
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A good program will build in this kind of progressive overload, as do
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the programs I linked to above.
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the programs I linked to above. The basic idea is to avoid stagnating
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by constantly challenging yourself to improve.
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### Plate math
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* Plate math
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If you're going to be doing barbell exercises, it's important to get
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* Importance of proper form
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comfortable with adding up weights, also known as _plate math_. I'll
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* Eccentric portion
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start with the metric system, since it's easier to handle, and what I
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* Calorie surplus
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use.
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* Full body vs splits
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A standard barbell weighs 20kg. The plates you'll put on the barbell must be balanced: you put the same amount on the left and right side. If you put a 10kg and 5kg weight on each side, you'll end up with:
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* 20kg bar
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* 10kg times 2 (one per side) = 20kg
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* 5kg times 2 (one per side) = 10kg
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* __Total__ 20+20+10=50kg
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I find it easiest in most cases to add up the weight per side of the
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bar, double it, and add 20. So in the above example, I'd do "10 + 5 =
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15, 15 * 2 = 30, 30 + 20 = 50." This is just arithmetic, so don't get
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too hung up on it, and do what's comfortable.
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Now let's do this in reverse. Suppose you're planning on benching
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70kg. In order to figure out what to put on the bar, you would do
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this:
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* 70kg - 20kg for the bar = 50kg in plates
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* 50kg total plates / 2 = 25kg in plates per side
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* Start finding the largest plates that will add up to your number. In
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this case, you're probably looking at a 20kg and 5kg.
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Try not to just match the total weight, but also the plate
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distribution. In other words, don't put a 20kg on one side of the bar
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and 4 5kg plates on the other. That will feel unbalanced. Most gyms
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will have plates of size 20kg, 10kg, 5kg, 2.5kg, and 1.25kg. Some may
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also have 25kg and 15kg.
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You may also hear people say things like "squatting 2 plate," or on
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stranger parts of the internet, "2pl8." This means you have 2 20kg
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plates per side of the barbell. Why 20kg? Convention. Do the math,
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I'll give you the total weight for this at the end of this section.
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__For you Americans__, the numbers are slightly different. Instead of
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a barbell weighing 20kg, it weights 45lbs, which is just slightly more
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than 20kg (20.4kg). And the plates come in sizes of 45lbs, 35lbs,
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25lbs, 10lbs, 5lbs, and 2.5lbs. As a developer, I love the power-of-2
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system employed by the metric plates, but if you have to use imperial
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measurements, just get used to doing the math.
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This has the funny side-effect that if you say "I squatted 2 plate,"
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it means something different between America and the rest of the
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world. (Go ahead and figure out what that total pound value is.) The
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numbers are close, but not exactly the same.
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*Answer: 2 plate is 100kg, or 225lbs.*
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### Importance of proper form
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You'll read this just about everywhere that discusses weight lifting,
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but I'll say it here too: using proper form on your lifts is
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_absolutely crucial_. Using proper form will:
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* Ensure you are getting the full value from your workout
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* Help you avoid injuries
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* Make sure you don't end up in an embarassing video on YouTube
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There are two particular points of proper form that I want to point
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out:
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* The act of lowering the weight is known as the *eccentric portion*
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of the exercise. It is common to see people lose control of the
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weight during this portion. If you do this, you are hindering your
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progress dramatically! Most of the muscle tearing that leads to
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muscle regrowth occurs during the eccentric portion. Lowering the
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weight in a controlled, steady pace is difficult, but well worth it.
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* Be sure to follow full range of motion. You'll often hear people say
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they don't want to squat to parallel because it will injure their
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knees. This is in fact a myth: squatting with insufficient depth
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leads to muscular imbalances and injuries.
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* I'm well aware of the fact that I haven't actually described how
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to do a squat in this post; please see the linked routines above
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that describe how to do a squat properly.
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### Full body vs splits
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A full body workout is a routine that exercises all (or most) muscle
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groups each day you train. A split routine somehow splits up days of
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the week to specific muscle groups. There are many tradeoffs between
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these two approaches, and I won't be able to cover them all here. But
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here's a basic idea: you should always have a day of rest between
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training a specific muscle group. But having too many rest days in
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between is limiting your growth potential.
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If you're going to work out three days a week, you can do a full body
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routine each of those days and have 1 or 2 days of rest in between. By
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contrast, if you're going to work out 6 days a week, doing a full body
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routine each day won't give you any time to rest and recover.
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The routines above are all full body routines. That's probably the
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right place to start; I would highly advise _against_ strength
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training for more than three days a week as a beginner. If you later
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want to progress to more days of working out a week, you can consider
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some kind of split. There are many preexisting routines based on
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splits, and you can of course make your own.
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Personally, I've found the PPL (Push/Pull/Leg) split approach to be
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pretty good. The idea is to first separate out all lower-body/leg
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exercises to their own day. Then, of upper body exercises, break them
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up by whether they push the weight away from your body (like a bench
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press) or are pulling the weight toward your body (like a curl or
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barbell row). This ends up pretty cleanly dividing up the upper body
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muscle groups.
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### How to eat
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If you're just getting started with strength training, you don't need
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to worry too much about eating. Follow nutrition advice from the
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previous post. If you're trying to lose fat, eat at a caloric
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deficit. When you're initially going from untrained to trained, you
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get to experience what are known as "noob gains," which lifters treat
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as the magical ability for your body to get stronger and leaner at the
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same time.
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Once you're past that initial beginner phase, it gets harder to pull
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this off. You'll hear people talk about bulking and cutting, on the
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premise that you need to eat extra food to fuel muscle growth (bulk),
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and then go for a period of caloric deficit to burn off the extra fat
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you gained (cut). Other approaches believe in trying for a recomp, or
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body recomposition, consisting of careful balancing of calories to get
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_just enough_ to gain muscle and burn fat. Other approaches like Lean
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Gains believe in *carb and calorie cycling*: eating more carbs and
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calories on training days, and less carbs and calories on rest days.
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This is all rocket science versus what we're discussing here. I'm
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mentioning it all so that you know you don't need to freak out about
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it. Remember, your goal is to get used to training, enjoy it, nail
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down form, and get basic strength gains. If you decide to pursue
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strength training more aggressively (like I have), there will be
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plenty of time in the gym to read hundreds of articles on the right
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way to eat. For now: eat healthy and lift heavy things.
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Final note: be sure to get __plenty of protein__ while strength
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training. You'll be using protein to rebuild your muscles after
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working them in the gym. If you don't have enough protein in your
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diet, your body will be unable to recover.
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### Summary of resistance training
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Wow, that was a lot! I honestly didn't realize I had that much to say
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on the subject of resistance training, and there's still a lot more
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worth saying. But hopefully this gives you a good place to start. In
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sum:
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* Strength training is for everyone
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* Don't forget to focus on health, not just pushing some numbers
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* Body weights are an easy way to get started and require little
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equipment
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* [StartBodyweight.com](http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/start-bodyweight-basic-routine.html)
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* If you have access to a gym and/or weights, a weight lifting routine
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can be a great approach
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* [StrongLifts](https://stronglifts.com/)
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* Start light, get your form down, and progressively increase the load
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* Focus on compound movements, adding in isolation movements as
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desired
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* Eat healthy, and be sure to get plenty of protein
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## Cardio
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Aerobic exercise
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## Exercise
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## Exercise
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