Fitness-comeback – Getting back into shape

If you want to return to regular training after a long break from the sport, there are a few things you need to consider. Many people underestimate how quickly their performance capacity declines. Even motivation, which is often too great, can soon lead to overwork. Here are the best tips for your fitness-comeback:

You must have a little patience

Former competitive athletes have the biggest problems with their fitness comeback. They underestimate the difference between the glory days and what they are still capable of after a more extended break. Unfortunately, a break from sport leads quite quickly to a loss of performance. Just a few weeks’ gaps lead to significant muscle atrophy, and endurance performance also declines rapidly. The good news is that people who restart with a reasonably built up training program will be fit again faster than people who have never or only sporadically done sport.

Start slowly with your fitness-comeback

It doesn’t matter whether you focus on endurance or strength training with your fitness-comeback: for the first training sessions after more than three months of immobility, you should pretend to be a beginner. Because from a physiological point of view, you are. That is why it is advisable to have a doctor check you out before you start training. If the doctor gives you the green light, three sessions a week will be enough in the initial phase. Treat yourself to a 48-hour break, especially after a weight training session. Further tips:

• If you go jogging, you should start with 5-minute intervals of slow running and brisk walking. 20 to 30 minutes are sufficient in the first two weeks.

• In the third week, you can increase the running intervals to 10 minutes and reduce the walking intervals to 3 minutes. Runs of up to 40 minutes are then usually already possible.

• After six to eight weeks, you will probably be able to run for up to 50 minutes without walking phases. However, you should still be able to run at a comfortable pace with a maximum pulse of 140 beats per minute.

• After three months of regular training, you will be able to do more intensive training units. Afterward, however, make sure that you have enough regeneration.

• When doing strength training, it makes sense to determine your repetition maximum and adjust the weights.

• Conventional strength training, where you do three sets per exercise with 8 to 12 repetitions, is suitable for the initial phase.

• After three months of training, you can also do other strength training methods.

Listen to your body during your fitness-comeback

As already mentioned, most former athletes overestimate their performance capacity after a long break from the sport. But those who have been active before usually know their body quite well. If you overdo it in the first training session, your body will respond accordingly. Then you really have to listen to it. This should result in insufficient recovery and the adjustment of the training intensity.