There are times in life when you just need to take a break from your fitness regime.
Sometimes, it’s forced upon you - injury and ill health are the most obvious causes of this. When your body isn’t feeling good, there’s no point in continuing on your previous path if it’s just going to cause more pain and distress. If you’re not well, then you need to take a break to give yourself a chance to heal and recover.
Then there are times when it just feels like life has swallowed you whole, and the time and motivation needed for a healthy lifestyle are absent from your life. You promise yourself you’ll catch up, but the days blur into weeks and you haven’t quite managed to get back to it. It happens; no need to feel guilty about it! Even the most devoted fitness fan will occasionally have something dramatic happen in their lives that means a break is inevitable.
So What Happens When You’re Ready To Get Back To It?
When you finally reach a point where you’re ready to resume a proper fitness regime, you might be in for a few unpleasant surprises. So you can at least try and prepare yourself against the worst, here’s a rundown of what you should expect - and what you can do to make it more bearable.
#1 - You’ve Lost Fitness
It’s going to happen. It’s not a fun realisation, either. After a break, you will have lost the fitness and stamina that you worked so hard to build up - so be ready for the fact you’re just not going to be able to do things the way you used to do.
How To Cope: Ease yourself in gently. If you used to work out five days a week, then don’t expect you’re going to be able to jump right back into doing that. Twice a week is sufficient to begin with, then build back up as you become more confident.
#2 - You Might Not Enjoy It
The start of any exercise program is hard, whether you’ve done it before or it’s your first real attempt. Even if you used to enjoy your workouts, you might find that that feeling of enjoyment is absent for the initial phases of your reintroduction. This is normal; you’ve gone without and you need some time to readjust.
How To Cope: Try and make your workouts as fun as you possibly can in the initial few weeks back after a break. You might find that Zumba dance exercise or barre classes are able to give you something new and different to try, while you become accustomed to being back in the groove.
#3 - You Might Get Hurt
If you have taken a break from working out, it’s easy to get injured when you make your return. Again, this is all about your body not being entirely ready for a regime you were formerly accustomed to. If you don’t take it very carefully as advised in the first point, then injury is far more likely.
How To Cope: Start back with gentle exercise. If you used to run a lot, then now is not the time to go and try and run 10k on a treadmill. If you’re going to be doing cardiovascular exercise, opt for walking or swimming initially instead.
Remember: your fitness will return to normal in time, you just need to be gentle and careful to begin with. At least you’re on the right path!
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