How To Come Back After A Layoff

Just injured and now getting back into things? Or, have you fallen off the bandwagon for quite some time and now you’re finally looking to get back on track so that you can reach the fitness goals that you set for yourself?

Whatever the case, coming back into it after a layoff can be a bit intimidating because it’s just been so long since you’ve been in the gym. If you use a few key strategies however, coming back after this layoff doesn’t have to feel that difficult and you can quickly get right back into the swing of things once again.

Let’s take a quick look at what you should be remembering about this.

Go Slowly

First, for the initial week that you’re back, go very slowly. At this point this is the biggest time period where you are likely to experience a higher degree of soreness and fatigue, so when you need to be most careful about how much you’re doing overall.

Give your body a bit of time to adjust to the simple stress of exercise itself so that you can then start adding more intensity after that.

Do Bodyweight Movements First

Second, make sure that you’re starting off with some bodyweight movements. Bodyweight movements will still stress the muscles, but won’t produce near the soreness that you would experience if you went right back into adding weights to the workout plan.

Bodyweight exercises will allow the neuromuscular adaptations to take place, which is what causes the greatest soreness over all.

Do one or two sessions first with just these, then start using lighter weights once again.  While it may feel like you’re just wasting time doing these bodyweight exercises, chances are you will be able to lift heavier when you get back to using weights, so you’ll actually see faster progress, not slower.

Workout Every Other Day

The next thing to remember is that you need to pay attention to rest and recovery. This is going to be more stress than your body is used to, so you need to give it a bit more time for that recovery during the initial few weeks.

Rather than doing  workout a few days in a row and then resting as you may have done before, do a workout every other day.

A full body plan, performed three times per week, will be perfect for coming back after a layoff.

Take Care Of Your Rest

Finally, the last thing that you should be doing is making sure you get enough sleep at night. Sleeping is imperative to recovery and you’ll need a bit more now that you’re placing these excess stressors on the body.

Aim for at least eight hours during the first few weeks – and if you can, maintain that from there.

So keep these quick tips in mind and you can feel better and perform better as you move back to your fitness plan after some time away.