4 simple things can help you get back to exercising after a break

For the last few weeks I traveled a lot. It was a work trip so I had to deal with a lot of things. I was busy and very tired. Of course, it has affected my health and mood. There was absolutely no time nor desire to continue my workouts.

So I missed a couple of weeks of my training routine. I know it’s not good if I want to achieve some results but sometimes it happens.

Another thing that happened to me when I came back was that I didn’t know how to get back to my routine. There was just too much in my head. So I decided to postpone everything I could at the time for another week and I only did what was most urgent.

Sometimes delaying means finishing something and there is a high chance of not going back to it again. This is especially the case with sports routine. So many times it happened to me. So I try not to make long gaps between workouts. Now however I did a 3 weeks gap.

But this time it turns out that it was a really good decision. Nothing bad happened. Maybe it was a good lesson. At the moment I am learning one thing: quality is more important than quantity. It seems very simple but many times I forget it.

So it’s more important to focus on how we feel and what we want rather than concentrating as robots on carrying out the plan. After this decision everything inside me calmed down and I have regained strength and motivation. Now I can continue my routine.

So I decided to write some tips which can help you when you have a long break.

Come back slowly

I think it’s not a good idea after a long break to return to the normal sports routine immediately. It would be really stressful. So I decided to include workouts in my day slowly. To take small steps. No matter what workout it is, just put physical load on the body carefully. For example, walking is always an easy and enjoyable way to get started.

Allow yourself not to be perfect

Thoughts can motivate but also demotivate. After a long break our thoughts are trying to keep us in the comfort zone and don’t let us get back to doing sport soon. So you need to press the stop button in your head when you start getting angry with yourself because you’ve done little, badly or missed a workout. Because it’s not these failures that stop you from getting results but thinking about it all stops you from achieving goals. Allow yourself to do things just the way you can, don’t compare yourself with others and rejoice in small steps.

Remember why you do it and how you feel after a workout

When you started your fitness journey you knew your goals. You knew why you did it and what exactly you wanted to achieve. So it’s good to remember these goals and motivate yourself again with them. When I remember how I felt after workout and which benefits I got it works best for me. It motivates me to try again and continue working out.

Do challenges

Challenges don’t take so much time. Of course, it depends on what you choose. In the beginning you can choose one small exercise a day or a week and after a while increase that physical load. It could really be a great start after a break.

I started with yoga classes. It was the most enjoyable activity which I wanted to do. Coincidentally, at the time I was invited to join 3 weeks yoga training. So I started it like a challenge. 

Which things work best for you?