How to get back to exercising after stopping

By Sophia McDermott, Lifestyle Coach & Fitness Expert. 

For some reason you stopped training in the last few months and don't know how to get back? Life just got in the way. You got busy,. The weather got colder. Unless exercising is a part of your lifestyle, its hard to be dedicated. BUT you see and feel the effects of the lack of exercise. Your energy is lower, your clothes are tighter and you don’t feel fit or strong.. So how do you get back into it and feel good about it rather than feeling like a drop out and having to deal with ‘redoing’ it all again. 

To help you get back into it, I have listed some tips  to help you. And from there you can make it part of your routine, a commitment that you do not give up on.

1 – Go back slowly

It is very important that you respect your body in this ‘come back’ and acknowledge that you most likely lost strength, mobility, stamina and fitness. After stopping for even a month has direct negative effects on your level of strength and fitness. Basically its the old adage, “If you don't use it, you lose it.” 

So please don't get back into it and try to prove a point and then make yourself susceptible to injury. Don’t force it because you want to to go back to the same pace as before. Be patience!

2 - monitor the weight loads and intensity

Let’s talk about intensity. This applies when lifting weights and also with the level of exertion with sprints, plyometrics and HIT workouts. intensity, it is a primary factor to be mindful of. Start off slow and then build up. If its easy then increase the weight. Speed up, jump higher, get a few more reps in, but only do this gradually and by listening to your body.

3 – Muscle memory

As you've trained before, you have a super ally: muscle memory! That's right. It can help you, as your muscles remember the entire process before you stopped. This particularly applies with ‘how to do things’. So if you’ve learned a move such as a martial arts technique or a lifting technique, you’ll find that it will be easy to remember how to do it! You’ll most likely get it right away, just like you never stopped. So embrace this and as long as you respect your body it will regain its old conditioning with time and patience.

4 - Consistency

And it's not that "focus, strength and faith" really work?! Consistency is key because this is the ONE thing that will bring very real results. It's very important to realised how powerful consistency is and to show up regularly. Just by showing up, you will have made improvements and you will have started to create a new habit.  Did you know that after 21 days, constant action becomes a habit and the process becomes very easy. It's routine, it's commitment! So suck it up for the first 21 days,  after that it gets easier!

5 - Time

Get into a routine. An excellent strategy is to set a fixed schedule  as soon as possible to get your workout sessions done. This generates discipline, and an understanding that on that particular day, at that time, you will train. 

6 - MIndset 

Be proud of yourself that you have the courage to get back into it. Its not easy but you are taking the steps forward. So adopting a mindset of where you are proud of yoru efforts thus far is helpful. It encourages you to kep  going. Also have an attitude of gratitude. Be grateful that you can  workout and that you have the opportunity to improve on yourself and be on your way to be the best version of yourself! 

These are just a few tips that can make your return back to working out easier. You can start back by yourself or with a friend. But feel free to also look for a trained professional to assist in the development of your training and who can guide you at the pace that you need to get back as safely as possible to where you left off. 

Every day is the opportunity to grow and to make progress.

Sources

https://www.womensrunning.com/training/9-simple-ways-to-start-exercising-again-after-a-break/

https://time.com/5679107/get-back-into-working-out/