So youre finally headed back to the gym after some time off.
Even if you feel weak and detrained, youwillget that strength and fitness back.
Dont forget your first victory: That you came back at all.
Be thankful for how far youve come.
Lets peek under the hood of that plan.
How much did my fitness break set me back?
Lots of different body systems change with exercise and can change back when you become sedentary again.
Youll have to start over.
Strength doesnt decline as quickly.
After a year, you maystill have about half of the strength you originally gained.
Some other things stick around even longer.
The extra capillaries youve grown to supply blood to your musclesare still there after a year.
Youll be back to normal pretty quickly.
It will probably take a few months to get back to where you were.
If not, now is a good time to visit a doctor.
If you took time off for a new baby, are you now getting enough sleep?
Do you have someone to watch the kid while you work out?
If you got swamped with work, have you figured outhow to get that elusive work/life balance back?
How quickly will I get it back?
What if youve been on break for a year or more?
There will be adaptation and itll be pretty quick.
A realistic timeframe, Thompson says, is to be back to normal within about two months.
That goes for both strength and cardio.
If you had just worked up to full push-ups, you may have to go back to yourmodified versions.
For an endurance sport like running, you still want to reduce the intensity of your workout.
The exact distance doesnt matter.
Runners like to obsess over mileage, and often cite10 percent as the perfect week-to-week increase.
Thats just a rule of thumb, though, and itspossible to make progress without it.
What should I do the next time I have to take a fitness break?
Maybe, if we are very unlucky, cases will spike and gyms will have to close again.
The key rule isdont stop completely.
Even if you cant do your regular workout, find something it’s possible for you to do.
These mini workouts help because you cankeep up most of your aerobic fitness with short but intense workouts.
For strength training, the same idea applies.
If you want towork on balance, there are exercises that hone in on that as well.
That way you wont waste the hard earned fitness that youre building now.
