Back In The Saddle Again!

Living a life of consistency is fiction.

Interruptions are the norm.

We get sick. We get injured, We lose a loved one.

A new baby is born. We go on that trip we've always dreamed of. We start a new venture!

Ups. Downs. Peaks. Valleys. -Welcome to the real world!

As a coach, I'm often trying to emphasize the importance of consistency. It's true: the more consistent you are in your workouts, the better results you get and the less likely you are to be injured. But I've been around long enough to know that almost everybody will have a break in their routine from time to time. So this article is not trying to guilt you into consistency, nor am I trying to shame you for taking time off. This is a guide to help you get back on the horse as safely and efficiently as possible.

(But hey, if the guilt works for getting you back in the gym I'll take it!)

In 20 years of coaching, I've only seen two instances of Compartment Syndrome and Rhabdomyolysis. Thankfully, they were both very mild cases that did not require medical intervention. These types of injuries are usually associated with newbies who go too hard and overdo it, causing severe muscle damage. But the only two instances I've seen were both in more experienced athletes who had taken some time off, then came back and jumped into the deep end right away. (One of these instances was me, but that's a story for another time.) Of course, minor soft-tissue damage is much more common.

The point is that re-starting after time off is a different skill set than starting from scratch.

The upshot is that you have experience and knowledge to draw from that a total newbie doesn't have. The danger is in thinking you can just pick up where you left off.

When assessing the approach to making a comeback, let's consider a few aspects:

1: How long have you been training compared to the length of time you took off?

If you're a life-long athlete who's rarely missed more than a session or two in twenty years, I assume you have a wide base of fitness- a strong foundation from which to build back. Taking a few weeks or months off will affect you, but your comeback will probably happen faster than a newbie.

On the other hand. If you're in your first year of a structured fitness routine and you take three months off, you're likely going to feel like you're starting over from scratch.

Yes, this is another argument for not missing workouts. The longer you're consistent in the first place, the better you can tolerate a little break from time to time. But, we can't always control when distractions will happen, so...

2: Imagine starting slowly, then do about half of that.

Coming back after a lay-off is not the time to prove anything. Ease back in. The most important thing is showing up. The next most important thing is not rushing into an injury. What's the rush? You can't "make up" for lost time. The lay-off happened. Since none of us have a time machine (that I know of), you have to just accept the fact that you had a setback and now you're back. That's that.

It's counterintuitive, but the slower you ramp back up, the faster you'll get back to where you were. Diving head-first into an injury is just asking for yet another setback.

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast!

This is where the most fit people can create the most problems for themselves. They have a long history of pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and into the zone of progress. So they feel compelled to get back to training and push into that feeling of discomfort. They know from experience that's where the payoff is.

But the key to coming back effectively is to avoid discomfort at first. Feel it out with something so easy it feels silly. Then, when you feel eager to get back to it the next session, ramp it up very slightly. Keep at this patient approach, and within weeks or months, you'll be back up to full-throttle. But if you try to ramp up in the first week or two, you'll likely be setting yourself up for more time off and an even more frustrating return.

I've seen people work for years to gain amazing levels of fitness, only to quit because they couldn't be patient when coming back from time off. They get overly sore, injured, take more time, and push again. After a few frustrating cycles of this, they give up completely.

Sad.

Starting back with a careful, patient mindset will help you avoid this pitfall and build your motivation to return to consistency.

Plan on a gradual ramp-up time equal to the time you took off.

3: Patience is not laziness.

Be patient with the results and the process, but be relentless with your commitment to consistency.

You will feel like you're "not doing enough". You'll feel like you're wasting time. You'll feel like your coach is being overly cautious and you know your body.

Good. Feel that way.

Patience is not the lack of wanting, it's wanting but deciding to wait anyway. Because now, if you've read this far, you know better! But patience in the gym is not the same as waiting to act.

We've come full circle. Consistency wins and that's not just in the beginning, it's especially true when coming back from time away. Being patient when you're in the gym is critical- patience when working with lighter loads, patience when cutting back the volume, patience when you want to feel that WORK, but be relentless with your attendance.

Consistent training is not only the gateway to results, it's also the best way to avoid injuries and heal from any you already have!

Show up! And know going in, that "doing the work" means taking good care of yourself, not beating your body into submission. There's no need to punish yourself and there's no rush (unless you're a paid professional athlete).

I'm so glad you're back!