I was coaching a nice lady who was back after having a months break. She has a fantastic attitude, but was killing herself trying to do the same things as before she stopped. As normal, I am going to try to take a step back and take the long view. So here are my recommendations for getting back into training after a break…
First, it is normal to not be as good as you used to be before a break. So don’t panic, accept this fact and move on from there.
- Forget any targets/goals and enjoy the training! Don’t even think about matching what you could do before. Just go through the motions, get back into the swing of things and enjoy every minute. Doing this will make the next step a hell of a lot easier…
- Get training again consistently. This consistency of training is much more important than a “perfect” training session.
- Assess your current performance levels. These will almost certainly be below what they were before your break in training. Don’t panic! This is just the starting point and you will get better from here.
- Improve on your current performance levels. This is done after you enjoys your training and after you train consistently.
How long it takes you go through these steps is dependent on the person. I have known people get to the 4th step in only a couple of training sessions…I’ve known people get to the 4th step in a couple of months. Most people will probably be somewhere in between. But there we go. That is my take on getting back into training. Hope it helps.