Sometimes your fitness ends up taking a backseat, maybe to life changes, illness, injury. Life happens, and it’s not easy to get back into it. A member recently joined our LIFT program who had been working out and making good progress for a while, before having a baby upset the routine. When he came in to get started, he was a little worried about feeling discouraged with starting over, but he’s been making great progress and getting back into a good routine. Here’s some of the things that helped him get back at it!
Be Patient
It doesn’t do you any good to ruminate on what happened, or to beat yourself up about it. Life happens, and sometimes the gym takes a backseat to whatever else is going on. Give yourself time to ease back in. Make sure that you’re listening to your body as you get going again. Pushing too hard too fast can lead to frustration, injury, and further setbacks. Let yourself rebuild gradually, and know that each session is a deposit into the bank that will pay off later.
Don’t Expect to Start Back Where You Left Off
It’s helpful to focus your thoughts on what you’re doing now, and avoid comparing to your past numbers. You aren’t going to be able to pick right up with your old deadlift, so focus on this time around. Constantly comparing to your old numbers is just going to lead to frustration and despair. Our member I mentioned earlier has done a great job of looking at this as a new, fresh training cycle and a new opportunity.
Remember Your Why
Motivation will come and go, so remember why you’re doing this. Are you training for an event? Just want to get strong as heck? Trying to achieve some particular health goals? Aiming to age with strength and have the best quality of life you can manage? Remember what got you started and lean on that during the times when you’re feeling less motivated.
Look for and Celebrate New PRs
Maybe you’re tracking post-injury/baby/illness/whatever PRs. If that works for you, keep it up! Another idea is to train a lift you haven’t done before, so that you can progress in something that you don’t have any grounds for comparison. Training altogether new lifts is a great way to tackle restarting as a truly fresh start.
No matter why you got away from training, be gentle with yourself as you return to lifting. Life happens, and sometimes you can’t keep juggling all the balls. Give yourself a little compassion and grace as you get back at it.
Getting started again doesn’t have to be overwhelming! Book a free no-sweat intro and one of our coaches will talk with you about what you’ve done in the past, and what your current goals are. We’ll recommend a plan that will help you get there.
