Going back to gym after long break reddit Don’t try to go super hard at first. It came back super fast, probably like 2 months and I was almost back in everything to what I was. After years of training I have found your body can tell you a lot if you just listen. When I returned to the gym, it was about a month before I got back to my previous strength levels and a month later I broke through some tough plateaus on bench that were a real sticking point before the break. Maybe do a few lifts every now and then just to maintain what you have. starting from thanksgiving to the end of 2011, i gave up on going to the gym bc my diet was so bad i Every single time I have taken a week off the gym (usually vacation), all my lifts went down 20-40 pounds the first time back. S. There’s absolutely no reason that you can’t go back, there’s plenty of dudes (and dudettes) at most gyms older than 39, and I’m sure a decent number of them either started or returned to the gym after 39. Since new years, I started hitting the gym hard again after a long break. But after some weeks strength and energy is always sky The 10week break in late 2016 I didn't do much besides rehab stuff whereas the 3mo break I was still running, doing BW stuff and eventually some CF before starting to WL again. So let’s get into it. So my fitness level is all over If in doubt leave it out. Keep the Enthusiasm in Check. Once again i am shocked by the stupid amount of people giving bad advice here. after that i comforted myself with food and gained all the weight back and then some. In that time I've lost almost a full human being's worth of weight; have maintained a 4. Just make sure you don't start back too quickly after any kind of break. When you go back in the gym you will not be able to lift the weight that you could before, don’t try. You could go off a % program and just adjust over time what you're lifting as your lifts come back up again especially if they have HeavySingle days in there somewhere. The first two times were kinda hard but you'll get over it. Did rehab for 2 months. My advice, start with basics. My first big layoff was in 2013 after back surgery and it was the best thing to happen to my technique. . i was still going to the gym and lifting, and trying to eat well, but my diet was definitely nowhere near ideal. Its also like 110 degrees out here, so how I got motivated the first time (hiking zion and going out into nature) isn't working. One thing that helps me when I've come back after a long hiatus is to go really low on weights and tell myself I'm working on my form. The length is also planned out. No one says you have to go hard as a mofo the first day back (in fact i would recommend taking it easy at first). If you’re still reading this article after the introduction, it probably means you’re keen to get back into training. It took weeks for them to heal. You just do it. When I had Delta I did have to ease back into things, but after Omicron I was actually doing even better than before, which I attribute to having rest from the gym. Your new workout is going to be doing everything you can to recover quickly and safely. Go to the gym straight after work, don't go home before it. Couple years back I had keyhole surgery in my abdomen, doctor said I could go back to the gym after 6 weeks. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. 0 GPA for my BS/MS; met a wonderful and incredibly supportive woman; have broken numerous past personal lifting records; and have been an overall much happier, healthier individual. If you can't take your workout gear/bag with you to work, prepare the bag at home, so you can go back home, take the bag then go to the gym straight away. First few sessions are always haaaaaard after a break (had more breaks, for weeks and months). But the better option imo is to pick something else physical up. Should land comfortably where you were and save yourself a lot of trouble in the long run by not rushing it. So I just hit the gym, forget all the pain for an hour or two… then I get home, my brain be like “it’s night, time to get sad” but oh yeah the endorphins after a work out saves me a lot. I didn't even think of going back to the gym for 6 months. Thanks for the help! Self motivation. It was the counterargument to my sadness, saying that “oh, not the time to be sad today, I just feel sooo good tonight after a 1hr intense workout”. I've been doing that for a month now and I got used to it honestly. But I'm terrified of doing it. Got back into healthy eating about a month after birth and got back to the gym 10 weeks after. And that the break let my body rest and recover. before my last show, this time is planned out. I took some years off cause I went back to school and couldnt afford a gym, then I went back, then the pandemic happened and I had to take a break for obvious reasons, then things opened up again, I was going 6 days a week in summer 2020, then things shut again, then omicron happened, and I took another break. Or if you have trained chest and triceps and chest is all sore, go train your back and biceps the next day. You'll loose more fitness by trying to work out when your not fully recovered, than you will loose by not working out when you are healthy. Longest I've gone without being able to hit the gym is 5 months, lost alot of gains in that time been back to The gym for about a month and I'm almost back to where I was and I can still run and maintain my breathing calm too. Yeah, my first couple workouts after a long break always suck, but the numbers return to where they were very quickly. If you feel it too easy, put on another 5%. I had Delta and Omicron, and I quarantined for 10 days plus no fever for at least 24 hours. This way it’s only a break and the plan of when I go back to training gym is planned out well too. For whatever reason I find lower legs take longer to heal. Now, I took a LONG break from this. I hurt my hand really in march and it took 2 months to heal. Even if you feel weak and Jan 13, 2025 · How to Return to Strength Training After an Extended Break. Aug 22, 2023 · Getting back to working out after a break isn’t as easy as dusting off your sneakers and renewing your gym membership. Everyone is there for their thing. But there’s no need to worry. Should take half the time you took off to get back to progressing on average. If you’re wondering how to start exercising again and feel May 17, 2021 · Whether you kept up your fitness a bit with home workouts, or completely forgot to work out, you’ll have some ground to make up when you head back to the gym. In your case I’d personally do 2 weeks getting back in the swing of things at like 60-70%, then autoregulate for a month not going over rpe 8-9. Start your fitness journey with one of the recommended routines in our wiki! Join our Discord Server! I was already going to the gym 2-4 days a week. You'll need to start with low weights just to learn to lift properly again with good form and to get your body used to the exercises. You’ll get it back. A few years ago I tore my pec. Keep your chin up. If you haven’t read part one of this series yet, go back and check that out before you continue here. Had surgery and was in a sling for 6 weeks. Full peel done. A proper plan can go a long way in helping you make the most out of this new opportunity to achieve greatness in the gym. Fitness decay as a beginner is very fast. A 10 day break might drop your working weights by up to 20 lbs. Yep. On a related note, I started lifting in April this year after taking a 3 year break from the gym and it only took about 2 months to get back to where I used to be. 2% of their quadriceps muscle size [4]. It's not so much the muscle is "lost" per-se (if still have good diet)but more so the neural ability to fire the muscles efficiently and effectively. Long story short, I took about a month and a half off of the gym, got heavily dependent on energy drinks, and I've been kinda depressed. And i cant seem to get that same motivation for the gym that i… None, it'll only set you back If you don't start back up. Jumping right back into it as if you never took time off is a bad idea. By 6 months postpartum I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight and built back a lot of strength. Should i be expecting something like this when i get back to lifting? the plan was working out every other day, going through (back biceps traps)>(legs abs)>(chest triceps shoulder). 5 months after starting PT. I got real small and doughy after those 6 months. Doing so will greatly So I just got a large full colour piece on my inner calf, and normally I would wait 7ish days before going back to the gym but this one hurt to do normal things like walking for a looong time. Go to the gym, you can just go and stretch or walk a lap idgaf, but make it a habit to stay going. It is never fun having to do that but I have found that I usually (quickly) surpass the weight I was putting up pre-break. Disengaged with fiance of 3-4 years. Guess I’ve been out about a year. You shouldn't go hard if you were out for 2 months. In short, due to a broken arm, I've taken about 12 weeks off my fitness routine, but I'm having trouble getting back into any decent workout routine. Bodyweight Fitness is for redditors who like to use their own body to train, from the simple pullups, pushups, and squats to the advanced bodyweight fitness movements like the planche, one arm chin-ups, or single leg squats. Fitness decay is slower as you're more advanced and stronger. Dial things back a bit and bite the bullet. I’m finally getting back to it after getting Covid and having issues with the gym. 1- gets me back to social gathering and renews my friendships and SO. The best advice comes from your own body. I am now starting to get my old strength back, about two months into seriously training again. The small mindset shift really helps me get over focusing on how weak I've gotten, and instead I can focus on having stellar form while I rebuild my strength. Good news though, if you trained consistently for a long period of time your body is able to bounce back. I can still do about twenty push-ups in one set and three sets in total. Don't think you can just go back to the gym after a few months off and start right back where you left off. Give yourself a break, do something light like a walk or some stretching, and go back to the gym once you're 100% better. Then put ~50% on the bar and do the lift. ). I went back after 8 years, wasn’t as strong as I used to be right off the hop, but I gained a lot of it back pretty quickly. Anyway, I had no idea what it would be like training in my mid 30s after such long layoff but really it was shocking how quickly it all came back. I'm convinced I could have gotten back even faster, if I would have focused on strength more. Training the same muscle group while sore is in the long run (a few workouts back to back) only gonna hurt that muscle. About a month and a half. Then after 2 weeks I will layer a 5km run onto every 3rd day, this way i'm not running with training the muscles every time Anyway thats the short term plan to get me going, i'm only 1 day back at it so far already and I am properly sore already. Even though you'll be going light really pay attention to technique and positions. How much strength you still have should be the last of your concerns. There is a (traditional) gym close to where I live but it’s just kind of a pain to be in sweats working all day and then have to change to gym clothes just to go for a 30 minute workout. I went in and benched but I was embarrassed about trying to squat after. I then took another 2-3 week break from mid February… Go really easy with it, its much easier to injure yourself after an injury and then you've just out yourself back into recovery again, time wasted. And gained 50lbs. Aug 25, 2021 · This is for those people that had to take several weeks or even months away from training. Squat, bench, deads. Since I haven’t been to the gym in a long time, I’m looking for some guidance on the best back exercises to ease back into things effectively. If you're confident you can get back in the swing after a month and really want the break, I'd say you can go for it. 4 kg of lean mass, and 3. After a couple months on Greyskull I switched to various 531 templates and started pushing harder on all lifts and saw my work capacity really start to grow. It really is that simple. I would just do what I did. Many beginner fitness questions have already been answered in The Fitness Wiki, so go give that a read as well! I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. So I'd say, for me personally, it's about 40-50% of the time I needed to do it the first time. I pretty much stopped lifting and I ate like shit for 9 months while pregnant. You Regain Muscle Quickly When Retraining. Don’t try to cut immediately. Once quarantine was lifted I immediately went back to the gym. Coming back to the gym after time off can be tough, but your gains aren't gone forever. And if you are in a relationship and you both like going to the gym, you should go together at least sometimes. My heart starts beating fast before I even start the push-ups, and it's so discouraging. My advice for coming back after a long break, which I've done(twice, cough) is to pick an linear progression program and start much lighter than you think you should. I'm not advocating hitting on anyone at the gym and especially not bothering anyone during their workout, but a lot of people do organically meet at the gym. 2- my body needs the break. I used to work out at a CrossFit style gym 5-6 days a week at a gym near my work, then Covid happened, then I got a new job and I work from home. I suggest you consider a pt to get you back into training again. Haven't hit the gym in a month, and I usually end up way too sore when I get back to the gym after a break I'm considering doing a 60% of my Max: 8x3 bench 8x3 DLs 8x3 squats 8x3 rows 8x3 OHP Went on a snowboard trip at the end of February with some buddies and ended up messing up my rotator cuff pretty bad. I'm not in bad shape, have gained may During the start of the pandemic, when my gym went to appointment only 1 hour slots, I took a six month break. I just got back to the gym today after 6 weeks due to hernia surgery. last year i lost my dad in a car accident. But when I finally did get the confidence to return realised my core strength was wiped out, it really broke me cause I just wanted to go back to my normal life. I don’t care what people lift as long as they put the plates back in the rack. But totally normal, I usually after long breaks or fall off when I come back, do a training session, then rest like 4-5 days until the DOMS stops and go at it, you can technically train with them, but rather not get injured as you get back :D I tried hitting the gym once within my 1 hour lunch break & it was super impossible to get an adequate workout. I just went back to the gym yesterday, 16 days after the tattoo. I left 10 min early to make the 10 minute walk to the gym, another 5 min to change & wash off make up, I got about 5-6 sets done before realizing I had to be back at work in 10 minutes. Please remember, you're only over 30, you're not made of glass and you're not dead. This means, it won’t take as long to regain strength as it took to build it initially. As long as it takes. Just go into the gym and do some warm ups sub ~50% of your maxes before. Bed rest: After one week of bed rest, study participants lost 1. The gym can also be a great place to meet someone new. Just get back in the gym, take it very easy for a week or two, and then enjoy the ride. Started working out again, haven't looked back since. Mar 30, 2025 · I had a 1 1/2 year break from working out due to a gym accident in 2023, which caused life long damages in my neck and upper back area. While in the relationship I was stressed and unable to focus properly. The gym isn't going anywhere, and in the grand scheme of things, it will be a minute speck of inactivity. Somebody else mentioned mountain biking; if you have anything fun like that to do, do it. 100 votes, 167 comments. Any recommendations or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! P. I know you hate hearing this but take it slow and leave your ego outside the gym, in the dumpster, buried under mounds of trash. Muscles grow more rapidly after detraining, if they've been trained before [16] [17]. Above all else, exercise patience and keep ypur eyes set on long term goals - fuck 6 months from now, even a whole year, focus on the next 5 and where you want to be both from a fitness standpoint and a mental one, because they go hand-in-hand. Every day you wait is a day you lost. So I stopped going to gym during my lunch break. Def take it slow, my wrist is still crunchy and cant flex it all the way back (means no benching/pushups). Currently, I'm at a month and a half break, but if I were to "hit the ground running" (pun definitely intended) and start doing my fifteen 100-meter dashes in the triple degree heat like I used to, my ankles and joints just wouldn't be adjusted, and neither would Important for me…. It's not a loss of strength, it's just a temporary decrease in the ability to display that strength. I meant to get back, but I just kept delaying it, and now I'm barely able to do any. Especially squatting, where the first time back in the gym the warmup sets feel like working sets. 57 votes, 30 comments. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you regain old levels of strength and muscle. So even if you’ve lost muscle after a break, regaining it is quicker and easier. Learn from my mistake: I went back to the gym two days after a big shin tattoo and the compression of my leggings + my sweat caused a horrible rash and pustules to break out all over my tattoo. Don't worry about your gains, they will come back fast. I've been getting back into working out for the past two weeks in a calorie deficit (-500kcal) with a full-body routine four times a week to assess my current fitness condition (my PRs, how many reps, exhaustion levels, etc. Took me about a year to fully recover from a shoulder injury I got while skiing, I was probably overly cautious because my job is very physical (which also probably didn't help recovery) but yeah When I got back to the gym I was expecting a massive drop off, but I was very close to my PBs and was able to push on to higher numbers very quickly. Now that I am not in the relationship,although I am still very sad and miss them a lot, it has given me increase in motivation and focus to go to the gym consistently and be 100% present. The primary objective is to provide you with practical strategies that can help you effectively get back into strength training. I used to run distance in HS, and we used to ease into running after taking breaks and it would take up to 2 months to return to form. i had the same break as OP (and ulna fracture) and i started going to the gym 3. This combined with starting a new job I did not get back into the gym until about mid August (6 month break). Take it slow and find comfortable ways to grip and make sure your form is correct with your wrist being less flexible. Hi all - new to Reddit so please feel free to point me somewhere else if there's a better place to post. Posted by u/Axiorz - 7 votes and 8 comments This is a sub for discussing fitness for people over 30. Eventually you'll try new things while you're there. I’m planning to get back into my routine starting this Monday, and I want to prioritize working on my back. Set a goal. I came to the conclusion it was due to being over trained before, gym x4 football x3 and boxing x2 per week. Cardio is definitely something you can't just dive back into after a long break. I'd recommend gczlp; you might have to bump up T2 lifts manually but T1s will catch up with you pretty quickly. eczjdgwjfmhcbcevliarksegjsfvmewgxeqmvrdwlkammunmpgvshchpnyyuvgttboyvnqkoxqbrw