Starting your fitness routine (again)
Whether it’s due to a snap lockdown, holiday away, or simply a stressful time – getting back in routine with your health and fitness can be challenging, particularly if you try to do too much at once. You’ve just had an extended time away and now you’re feeling ‘stuck’ or cursing your ‘lack of motivation’ for not just getting back into the same fitness program and nutrition habits you had before; don’t worry, we’ve all been there at some point.
Think of yourself like a beginner again – we need to build your habits.
How, you ask? Generally, it’s one step at a time.
Whether it’s starting a fitness routine to lose 5kg or climbing the Matterhorn, you achieve it the same way (hopefully with less altitude sickness though).
If you haven’t done any exercise during your time away from the gym and you were previously training 5 days a week, you don’t have to start back with same frequency. Dial it back and aim for two days, maybe three if you feel good. We’re just trying to get your foot in the door at this point and restart your habits – there’s always time to build training frequency later.
The same thing applies with your food – if you were previously eating healthy, calorie- and macronutrient-balanced meals and you’ve since been away on holiday eating takeaway every night and knocking it back with a few beers, start small; this could be aiming for simply having protein with every main meal, or even cutting back the takeaway to 4 nights a week instead of 7.
Where to start?
I put together the list below based on the common goals I work with people on and the struggles and barriers they face with their health and fitness. If you’re just getting started again and some of the examples above match your situation, try some of these points and see how they feel – the goal is choosing habits and behaviours that you’re 8/10 or 9/10 confident you can complete.
· Doing one weight session and one cardio session for the week
· Having protein with each main meal
· Going for a walk twice a week
· Drinking 1-2L water each day
· Keeping your exercise intensity moderate (think 5-6/10, rather than 8-9/10)
· Switching your snacks to fruit
· If you’re used to training for 60 minutes each session, start with 30 minutes instead
· Having a protein shake each day
Some of the points above are harder than others – remember you don’t need to do all of these at once. Pick and choose what you feel ready to start with, make sure that it’s something that you’re 8/10 or 9/10 confident with, and see how you go with it. If you successfully achieve that goal and want to do more, that’s great! Pick another item from the list and go for it.
Build your history of success.
If you struggled with it (i.e. you aimed for protein with each main meal and only had protein with one main meal) the goal may have been too difficult for where you’re at right now. Don’t stress about it, just pick a goal that you feel more confident with and re-visit this one later when you’re ready.
Once you’ve started doing some of these points regularly and you’ve got some momentum behind you, keep building your habits and before you know it you’ll have regained any progress you may have lost and be back on track for success.
When in doubt, don’t aim for ‘perfect’. Aim for ‘good enough’ consistently, and you’ll achieve your goals.
Talk soon,
Alex
