You have fallen off your fitness path. Maybe it was Covid-19, and the mess of a year and a half we recently went through, or maybe you endured a tough injury, had a baby, or a million other VALID reasons. This is just life, and we all have the ability to overcome these tough situations and get back in the health and fitness game better than ever before. We just have to stay strong, and keep the end goal in the back of our mind. However, when we think about restarting our health and fitness journey there are some things that we should be mindful of to avoid injury and ultimately get the most our of our new routine.
Manage Expectations:
It is very likely after a long break from exercise that you may not have the ability to do the things you once could. In life, we can’t always pick up where we left off realistically and that is okay. It can be hard to accept that you’re so far away from what you once were. Commonly, these feelings can lead to anger and frustration but these types of reactions will not serve us if we are looking to get into health and fitness. Angry and frustrated people can set unrealistic goals or jump into a routine that is too hard or too intense. Which in turn leads to loss of motivation through failure or injury.
Getting back into an exercise routine safely:
The biggest tip to returning to exercise safely after a long break is to take small steps and frequently change up your routine. It is best to ease back into your training regimen and add variation in the forms of intensity, frequency and the type of workout you do. For example: If you’re looking to get back into CrossFit after a long break you could start with CrossFit classes twice a week, running/walking intervals a couple days, and maybe yoga or swimming on the other days. Our bodies don’t usually respond well to the same repetitive action over and over again. Switching things up a little bit can help prevent injury. If you do end up over doing it, and get injured it is important to take the time you need to rest and recover and see a doctor if needed.
How can you stay motivated?
If you don’t see results from your new workout routine right away, it can be frustrating. Don’t be tempted to give up. Results will be seen over time. Once you make time to workout, and it becomes a habit your endorphins and your own brain are actually able to motivate you.
It is super important that you find a form of exercise that you like to do. For example, if you hate to run but you love to dance. It wouldn’t make sense for you to go for runs as your exercise form. It would make more sense to do a dancing type workout like zumba or something that you enjoy. You can look around in your local community to see what is out there that sounds like fun to you to help you reach your health and fitness goals.
Lastly, setting goals can really help you stay on track. Goals should be specific, realistic, and attainable. That way when you reach one goal you feel accomplished which in turn will help you be super motivated.
