So you’ve had a break with your training for whatever reason- sickness, holiday, injury, pregnancy or any life circumstance. You know where you were in the past and you want to return to that state as fast as possible. You dread training in a worse state than you were at your peak, but you know you need to get back into it one day, so now is better than later. The longer you wait, the more you know you will regress so, the earlier the better. There are 3 questions you ask yourself:

1. Should I do something differently from last time?

2. How do I not get injured like last time?

3. How do I get back to where I was?

Should I Do Something Different From Last Time?

The best way to answer this question is to have a discussion with yourself about what you are actually wanting to achieve. If you were previously wanting to build muscle but now the main priority is to lose the weight that you put on, then yes, definitely take a different approach to last time. Keep your focus on maintaining muscle tissue (weight training) while eating at a deficit (eat higher volume foods).

If you’re wanting to increase your fitness this time round then you’re going to have to focus on adapting your cardiovascular system (build up your heart rate for extended periods of time). If you’re wanting to focus on building strength then you’re going to have to lift heavier weights (progressive overload resistance training through compound movements).

There are a range of different goals someone might have. The training should be tailored around those goals rather than just a random go at something you think might be more exciting (excitement wears off).

How To Reduce Risk Of Injury

A good way to think about this is how does someone get injured in the first place? Being in the wrong position while lifting weight can cause excess pressure on a joint, muscle, tendon or bone. How do you get in the wrong position? You’re either doing it wrong, have weaknesses/ imbalances in your body causing you to move into those injury prone positions, or you’re fatigued and you’re falling into these positions during reps.

The best way to ensure you are moving efficiently is to do it the right way from the beginning. Hiring a coach or Personal Trainer would be a great way to ensure this is done correctly. You can also view videos online to get tips and advice on how to perform movements correctly.

The same thing goes for the weaknesses in your body. Get some advice from a professional to ensure the movements and exercises you are doing will work toward you being more balanced overall while lifting.

Excess fatigue will also put you at higher risk of injury as muscles start to fail in different places which cause you to break down in the movement and increase the risk of something being stressed too much, causing injury. You can keep fatigue low by progressing the weights you’re lifting over time.

How Do I Get Back To Where I Was?

This is a big one for a lot of people as the first instinct is to push as hard as possible as soon as possible to get right back to where you were before the break. It’s great that you’re using your initial motivation to drive results. It’s not however a smart approach long term.

Just remember, the body will adapt over the course of time. Big bouts of stress not only demotivate someone but also decrease the efficiency of their training. If you are to gradually increase your training load you will find that you plateau less, have less injury, feel better and can maintain consistency throughout the duration of a training program versus someone who is progressing too quickly. Overall progressively increasing stress will provide better results for someone versus quick hard bouts of training.

Essentially the key is accepting the fact that you would have regressed if you were unable to train for an extended period of time and take on the advice of progressive training. If you take it slower it will greatly benefit you long term and you will actually find that you get better results that way. Play it smart, there’s no need to push it that hard, just push enough.