How to Make a Fitness Comeback
Like many others who are coming off a year-long hiatus from exercising after COVID, you might be plotting your official comeback to the gym now that restrictions are lifted. Getting back into your workouts isn’t going to be easy, especially if you’ve been mostly inactive over the last couple of months, but it certainly can be done. To help you get started, here are our best tips for how you can come back stronger from an exercise break and start crushing your fitness goals again!
Set New Goals
If it’s been a few months since you’ve looked at your fitness goals, then it might be time to give them a quick refresh. This will ensure the goals you’re working toward are in line with your current, post-pandemic fitness level, and it can also help you uncover new motivations to help you get started. Remember to focus on the “why” behind what you want to achieve and to break down larger goals into smaller, actionable steps to help you feel less overwhelmed.
Plan it Out
With your new goals locked and loaded, now you’re ready to start planning your workout routine to help you accomplish them. Setting a sustainable schedule that you can actually stick to is going to be key. You don’t want to try cramming in as many workouts as possible early on, as this is likely to cause burnout. We recommend starting with three days a week at our studios until you’re comfortable meeting that goal. Then, you can add in extra workouts to increase your activity each week — but we still suggest having at least one rest day per week to give your body some rest.
Pro-Tip: Include your friends or family members in your workout plans each week to find a punch partner who can help keep you accountable!
Focus on Building Healthy Lifestyle Habits
As you’re coming off an exercise break, you need to focus on building healthy habits that will help you stay on track to reach your goals. While one of those new tendencies should be making it to your workouts each week, you also need to work on building other healthy lifestyle habits that can assist you in reaching your goals. Two of the biggest areas you can look at are your daily activities and your daily nutrition.
Some examples of habits you can work on in these areas include swapping small things at lunchtime, like whole grain bread instead of white bread or eating a small cup of fruit for dessert rather than a cookie. Additionally, you can make simple lifestyle changes like taking the stairs rather than the elevator or taking the dog for a walk around the neighborhood instead of just letting them out in the yard. Little habits like these can help you make progress toward your goals when you’re not crushing your workouts at the gym.
Remember to Rest
While it’s tempting to squeeze in as many workouts as you can without stopping, this isn’t going to help you stay on track in the long run — it may even cause an injury that can halt your progress in an instant. Instead, focus on keeping up a consistent routine with rest included. Recovery time is essential for your muscles’ repair process, so if you want to see those #strengthgains, you’ve got to let your body rest. Getting enough sleep each night (7-9 hours) is one of the best ways to let your body rest, as this is when many important healing processes take place. If you absolutely must move on a day off, then try one of these active rest day activities for something less intense than your usual 9Round workout.
If you’re ready to commit to your fitness goals again, then come try our revolutionary kickboxing-themed workouts! Sign up for your Free Introductory Workout below to kick it with us at your local studio. We can’t wait to show you how our KILLER workouts help you grow stronger, physically and mentally, in just 30 minutes.
