Buzz
So, you're finally heading back to the gym after some time away. Whether you kept active with home workouts or took a break entirely, you'll have some catching up to do when you return.
Even if you're feeling weak and out of shape, rest assured that you'll regain your strength and fitness. Your prior experience gives you a big advantage, making it easier to bounce back compared to someone who has never trained. Remember, your first win is that you're back at all. And if you're struggling mentally with returning to your routine after a break, check out our five-step guide for getting back into the gym:
Don’t be hard on yourself.
Assess what you've lost.
Appreciate how far you've come.
Create a plan.
Put that plan into action.
Let's take a closer look at the plan. We talked to exercise physiologist Walter Thompson from Georgia State University to understand what happens to your body during time off and what to expect when you return. The good news is that even though it might not feel like it now, you'll soon get back to your stronger, faster self—if you’re mindful of preventing injury.
How much has my fitness loss set me back?
Many different systems in the body are affected by exercise, and they can reverse when you become inactive. One of the first changes is a decrease in the amount of blood in your body, which rises when you're fit. Runners use a measure called VO2max, which indicates how quickly you get out of breath, as a gauge of fitness.
Even after just two weeks off, a runner’s VO2max begins to drop, and you'll find yourself winded sooner than before. After two months, you could lose around 15 percent of it, according to a classic study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. If you were an athlete for years, even after three months you’d still have an edge over someone who’s never trained. However, this doesn’t apply to new gains, such as if you completed a couch-to-5k program and then returned to inactivity. In that case, you’ll have to start from scratch.
Strength declines more slowly. After a month, you'll retain most of your strength and your “power” (that’s your ability to perform quick movements, like squat jumps). Even after a year, you might still retain about half of the strength you initially built.
Some changes remain even longer. The additional capillaries you developed to supply blood to your muscles remain present even after a year. Your heart will stay strong, and your lungs will retain a greater capacity than they had before you began training.
As for how much fitness you lost, there is no precise formula; these figures are just approximations based on the experiences of those studied. To sum up:
If you took a few weeks off: You’ll notice a slight decline in your cardio fitness, but your strength will hardly be affected. You'll bounce back quickly.
If you took a year off (but were in good shape before): Expect to lose at least 15 percent of your cardio fitness and roughly half of your strength. It may take a few months to get back to your previous level.
If you took many years off (for example, you were a college athlete during the Clinton presidency): Consider yourself starting over. You might be able to regain some strength faster than someone completely new to training, but don’t rely on that—it will be a pleasant surprise if it happens.
Before you create your comeback plan, it's important to reflect on why you took a break and what transpired during that time. A life-changing global pandemic is likely the reason most are reading this, but gym breaks happen for many different reasons.
For instance, if you stopped due to injury, make sure you've fully addressed the issue. If you haven’t, now is a good time to consult a doctor. Get the problem diagnosed and treated, and see a physical therapist to correct any muscle imbalances or weaknesses that might have caused or resulted from the injury. If you gained weight during your time off, those extra pounds could make it harder to match your previous running times or complete the same number of pull-ups you used to.
This is also a good opportunity to take a reality check on anything else that could disrupt your routine. If you took time off because of a new baby, are you getting enough sleep now? Do you have someone to care for the baby while you work out? If you were overwhelmed with work, have you figured out how to reclaim that elusive work/life balance? If you drifted away from exercise due to boredom, have you considered how to make your workouts more enjoyable or found better ways to motivate yourself? Once you reflect on what happened and understand why this time will be different, you’re ready to begin.
How soon will I regain my fitness?
If your break was only a few weeks, you might just need a few sessions of easing back in before you're back to full speed.
What if your break lasted a year or longer? Thompson has good news for those in that situation:
What I generally tell people is, you took a year off, but don’t expect it to take a year to get back to where you were. You’re not quite where you were, so I recommend reducing the weight you lift by a third to half, then take a week or two to ease back into your regular routine. There will be quick adaptation.
That doesn't mean you'll be lifting your previous personal bests after just a week or two, but you'll be making good progress. A realistic timeline, according to Thompson, is to return to your normal levels within about two months. This applies to both strength and cardio.
So, if your usual bench press is 200 pounds, don’t expect to lift much more than 100 on your first day back. If you had just worked up to full push-ups, you may need to return to your modified versions.
For endurance activities like running, you should still scale back the intensity of your workouts. Thompson recommends starting with walking and gradually adding jogging intervals until you can jog your full routine at your previous pace. The exact distance isn't as important. Runners tend to obsess over mileage, often citing 10 percent as the ideal weekly increase. However, that's just a general guideline, and it's possible to progress without it. Thompson concurs, noting in an email: 'There is no scientific (or medical) proof of the 10-percent rule.'
After two months, if you're not back to where you were, your workout plan probably needs some adjustments—especially if you've been doing the same thing you always did, but your goals have shifted. Find a good trainer to ensure your program is appropriately challenging and aligned with your new objectives.
What should I do the next time I have to take a fitness break?
Life happens. Even if you promise yourself that you’ll never take time off again, there will be moments when you’ll need to travel, get injured, or dive into a new, exciting project that consumes your free time. And, if we're unfortunate, there could be a rise in cases, forcing gyms to shut down once more.
The main rule is don’t stop entirely. Even if you can’t stick to your usual workout, find something you can do. Stationary bikes and treadmills are reliable options when the weather isn’t ideal, and Thompson suggests rowing machines for a change of pace (there’s usually one tucked away in most gyms). Other alternatives could be quick workouts (if time is your limitation) or exercises you can do at home or in a hotel if you lack equipment or access to outdoor spaces.
These short workouts are effective because they allow you to maintain much of your aerobic fitness with brief but intense sessions. Take your usual 60-minute run and reduce it to a 20-minute version of your regular routine, including speedwork. The same approach applies to strength training. You may only need one workout per week as long as you push yourself as hard as before. If you want to work on balance, there are exercises specifically designed for that as well.
If you continue these mini routines during your break, you’ll return to the gym in much better shape. This way, you won’t waste all the hard-earned fitness you're building now.
