Just before the COVID lockdowns started, I weighed around 90kg and was 5 weeks out from a kickboxing fight. I really felt like I was in the best condition of my life in terms of strength, fitness, and health.
At the end of the last lockdown I weighed 107kg, was exhausted after 30 minutes of shadowboxing, and my calves/knees hurt just walking to work. I was keen on getting back to the gym, but also a little daunted by the challenge.
I don’t tell this story often because I don’t want it to sound like some kind of horror story. I believe it’s totally normal for your relationship with fitness to change during a significant life event. Nonetheless I think this story holds some useful lessons for anyone thinking of going back to the gym after a long time off.
1. Change the Narrative of Your Gym Comeback
Getting back to the gym after a long time off is never easy. Everything will feel harder, especially if you remember what you were previously capable of. But rather than letting that demoralise you, try changing the narrative. Your memories of being fitter and stronger before are proof that you can get there again.
Your body has a great “memory” for previous skills and abilities. We have muscle memory on a neuromuscular level (for learning movements, contracting muscles harder, and so on), as well as on a cellular level (for delivering the right resources to a muscle cell for recovery and adaptation).
A lot of people get demoralised by their age; for example, if you were in great shape at 35 and you’re now 41, it’s easy to believe you can’t get your fitness back. I’m not promising that everything will be exactly the same, but it is possible to achieve great things even as you age. In the past I’ve trained two master’s athletes (a 41 year old sprinter and a 59 year old skiier) who were both able to set new personal bests compared to their younger selves.
Getting back into the gym is just a matter of patience and self-belief.
2. Take Your Time Coming Back to the Gym
Remembering your old fitness and strength is a double-edged sword. While you may remember the great things you were capable of, your muscles and joints will take time to get back to it. When I restarted my training after the first lockdown, I was plagued by knee pain for a long time as I rushed back into heavy squats and high-effort jumping exercises. This knee pain would flare up again after each lockdown.
I eventually resolved this pain, but I definitely started too hard when I came back to the gym. It may seem like a good idea to start hard as soon as you come back to the gym, but you could cause yourself more problems in the long run by overdoing it.
Allow yourself 8-12 weeks of conservative training before you start to ramp things up.
3. Enjoy the Journey Back to the Gym
I’m lucky that my job and hobbies have always made it fairly easy for me to “motivate” myself in the gym. That being said, my time away from training gave me a much greater appreciation for what I had been missing.
If you’ve been out of the gym for a while, you may well have forgotten how it feels to be more active, more mobile, stronger, and fitter. You may have forgotten how much the gym prepares you for day-to-day life and makes things easier, whether that’s painting the spare bedroom or chasing after the kids. Be sure to appreciate these things as they come back.
These are benefits you should get to enjoy all the time, not just during your new years resolutions or in the build-up to your summer holiday. Training is about much more than changing your body for a one-off event. Every workout is a chance for you to see what your body can do for you.
Yes, it can be hard to get started – but it will be worth it.
I hope these tips help you on your journey getting back into the gym. If you found this useful, I made even more gym comeback tips here. If you’d like help with your gym comeback, you can get in touch below.