Check out the ‘4 Crucial Guidelines for Regaining Fitness After a Long Break’ Despite your best efforts, you occasionally need to take a significant vacation from your exercise routine. Even the most devoted fitness enthusiast has to take time off due to life stressors, an accident, or an illness.
But returning to your old routine too soon after a break from exercise is not a good idea. Why? Because your muscles lose strength, power, and size after a while of inactivity, your cardiovascular endurance gradually decreases.
As a result, we’ve developed four key guidelines for getting back in shape after a sabbatical.
Jumping back into too much too soon can cause injuries, fatigue, and burnout—and it’ll force you to take another break, which will further delay your return to previous levels. Instead, follow these simple rules to help you make a triumphant comeback so you can feel your very best.
The 4 Crucial Guidelines for Regaining Fitness After a Long Break
1. Be realistic
Be realistic about what you expect to happen after a long vacation; it won’t happen immediately. (Sorry.) The general rule of thumb is that it takes at least half as long as your break to get back into shape.
You can speed up your recovery by taking into account your training history and prior fitness levels but don’t set yourself up for failure if your development is slower than you’d want. You’ll get there if you have patience.
2. Lower your volume
Training “volume” refers to the quantity of exercise you do, such as sets and reps, cardio minutes, number of exercises per week, and so on. Doing too much will result in issues. While muscles can quickly restore strength and growth, bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments take much longer to recover—so be gentle with them.
Start with a very low volume when you return. For example, if you used to train five times per week before taking a break, cut back to two times per week. You can then gradually increase the volume of labor. Plan to add another weekly training session every few weeks. Then, once a week, do an extra set or a few reps to help your body develop stronger and fitter.
3. Focus on form
It’s crucial to employ the right technique whether you’re returning to swimming, trail running, or strength training. Why? Because your body needs time to adjust to the movements after a long absence, poor form increases your risk of suffering from pains, aches, and injuries.
When you work out, always use the proper form. Consider making a video of yourself performing the exercise, getting a coach, and always exercising with flawless form.
4. Increase slowly
It’s crucial to gradually increase the amount of weight you use when trying to get back in shape after a hiatus. Imagine you squatted 200 pounds just before a protracted break. Start with 100 pounds when you get back, but avoid trying to gain 20 pounds a week; it’s too soon, and you’ll tire out quickly. Instead, raise the weight subtly by five pounds per week. Even though it seems slow, that’s the point! Giving your body enough time to react and adapt is crucial.
You can increase the time of cardio by five minutes every week. Again, consider the long term: little increases can quickly add up. And once you’re back in shape, we promise you’ll be glad you took your time.
