A few months ago, I started working with a client who'd been away from exercise for almost 2 years. Coming back after such a long break wasn't easy. She kept thinking about how strong she used to be, making her workouts, literally, an exercise in frustration. Taking a break from exercise doesn't mean you're a failure, but it can sure feel that way the first time you test your body with exercises you used to breeze through with no problem.
So how do you get past that? How do you focus on the present instead of dwelling on the past?
A while back I asked my readers to talk about how they get back to exercise after a break. I got some great responses, but my favorite was posted by About.com Guest OMPilates who said:
"When I go back to exercising after a break, I focus on the good things. For example, I'm refreshed and my technique is often better. I'm also in a place to make and see changes in my form that I couldn't when I was in my routine. It doesn't take that long to get strength and flexibility back - a few weeks maybe - so I don't worry about that."
I love that kind of positive attitude, but I'll bet most of us spend more time kicking ourselves for past mistakes than accepting where we are and going from there. If you're struggling to get back to exercise after a long winter, there are things you can do to make the process easier, and I think the most important is to admit where you went wrong and forgive yourself.
What do you think? Have you gotten off track with exercise and, if so, how did you get past the guilt? Leave a comment or share your story here, telling us all about how to come back from an exercise break.
I agree with most of the stuff Paige has to say on the subject. I came up with things to keep myself from burn-out down the road:
1. No skipping workouts on more than two consecutive days.
2. Added and continue to consider additional exercise routines and substitute exercises for more variety.
3. Monitor level of exertion and avoid overdoing exercises, including stretches.
4. Take a day off a week to allow for physical recovery and for taking a deep breath mentally.
5. Allow for taking an occasional day off for those off days.
6. Poll myself from time to time; how I feel about my workouts. If everything’s fine, great. Otherwise, some adjustments may be in order.
7. Keep the bigger picture, avoid over-analyzing details, and recognize and modify unreasonable goals.
I do these things to avoid stopping exercise completely due to burn-out. I know from personal experience how difficult it is to start up an exercise program again after a prolonged absence – expectations may be unreasonably high, and rationalizations or excuses are a brick wall to re-starting. I try to learn from my past failures to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
I had a small break in exercising when I was having some work done on my house. When I got back into it, there was one component that I chose not to add back, because I knew I would be really sore for at least a week. Instead, I built up my cardio and strength. I have finally (and just recently) added back that component and yes, I was and am sore, but not as badly as anticipated. I am much stronger now, so this aspect of my exercise routine seems easier than it was before, or maybe that is just my perception. I’m very happy to be back where I was before, plus some, since I have added more cardio and interval training and am at my heaviest weight level for strength training. I never saw this as a loss or a failure, but as a way to tweak my current routine and keep it fresh.
Because of medical problems I have about 30 years worth of “getting back”. Start really slow, do pyramid routines fow weight stuff and don’t worry about it. Our body’s response to exercise is amazing. As far as guilt is concerned, keep in mind that there is a reason that you dropped out and it’s important to take a look at that. The fact that you are getting back to workouts means that you’ve solved something or at least are working on it; so that’s something to be happy about. It’s always about process.
I’m just coming off a broken hand. Getting back to the gym must be a slow deliberate process. Instead of doing 3 sets, start off with two. Back off the weight some.