Getting back into your training routine after several weeks or months can seem tedious at first, but it doesn’t have to be. In an interview, explains what needs to be considered when returning to sport.
In the wintertime, many people let their usual training programs slip at one point or another. Getting up again after several weeks is sometimes not that easy.
Planning Is Everything: 30 Percent Less Workload
How you start your training properly again depends primarily on the type of sport and how the training is structured – i.e., strength, endurance, or speed training.
“When it comes to speed, the tension time is always a bit higher than when it comes to endurance work,”
Therefore, according to the expert, it is essential to plan the training sessions according to the workout content.
But no matter what type of training it is, one aspect is essential at the beginning: “The intensity of the workout should deliberately be less stressful – both in terms of time and intensity of the workout.”
Anyone who goes through speed training should be cautious and reduce the load by a good third.
The rule also applies to weight training: 30 percent less stress. “You can easily regulate that via the weight used or the number of repetitions – you should stay 30 percent below the usual norm.”
This also applies to endurance sports: The pulse should be about 20 beats below the usual heart rate.
A good two weeks, i.e., six units should be trained in this reduced way. After that, the expert recommends two more training sets with a 50 percent reduction before you can step on the gas again.
Set New Goals
To avoid injuries and, above all, to find the necessary motivation to keep up the sport this time, you should set new goals for yourself.
It is essential that these are not based on the performance before the training break but that they have been adapted to the reduced version.
Instead of running many kilometers straight away or lifting the maximum weight, you can initially only set yourself the goal of going back to training regularly: initially, no more than three times a week.
The plan reduced workouts but then carried them out consistently so that you could get back into them after this adjustment phase.
Targeted Prevention Of Injuries
Intense muscle soreness so that your whole body hurts the next day? Please do not! Because although many athletes see this as a sign of successful training, such severe muscle soreness is counterproductive.
“What most people do wrong is that they continue training unchanged after a long break and then get into a very severe phase of injury, which is described as muscle soreness,”
“When it comes to sore muscles, we’re talking about an injury to the blood vessels that takes about seven to ten days to heal.” A long time in which no practical training is possible.
The trick is to train so cautiously that no injury occurs in the first place. Thus, no lousy muscle soreness develops – even if this can certainly be difficult with an exuberant motivation.
“If you stick to it, then returning to work is more successful than for those who go full throttle and then need a longer phase to regenerate again,” says the sports scientist.
A Clean Technique Is A Be-All And End-All
When it comes to strength training, getting back into it with your average weight carries an additional risk of injury. Because of the reduction in strength within the last few weeks or months, the technique can no longer be carried out cleanly with the same weight.
However, painfully pinched and injured tendons and ligaments can result without proper technique. Of course, such an injury also takes time to heal.
“That’s why high-performance sport pays meticulous attention to it. Every athlete who starts after a break makes sure that this doesn’t happen if possible. If you want to succeed in sport yourself, you can follow these concepts and learn from the professionals.”
So: It’s better to slow down and focus on what you’re doing when you get back to the exercises. Of course, you shouldn’t under-challenge yourself too much. Because the training is too easy, it may not be as much fun as it used to be.
“If you start too softly, you run the risk of losing motivation and desire,” A balanced program is then just right. Fun and progress should be noticeable, albeit in small steps.
Don’t Forget Rest Days
To protect your body from rapid overload, the rest days on which your body can regenerate are crucial in addition to reducing stress.
That doesn’t mean that you only have to sit on the couch: walks, accessible cardio units, fascia training, or even yoga actively contribute to regeneration by promoting blood circulation and smoothing muscles and fascia again.
To give your body the best possible support during this break, the fitness expert still has a few general tips up his sleeve:
- a lot of drinking
- an adequate protein intake
- a hot shower, bath, or visit to the sauna
- sound sleep of eight to nine hours
But the essential rule remains: Pay attention to your body’s signals and give it a break when it asks for it. Then nothing stands in the way of a tiptop return to your favorite sport!
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