Getting Back on the Horse Once the Gyms Reopen
The gyms in Ireland will be back in business in the coming weeks. I would imagine this will create both excitement and apprehension for many of my friends and family back home. Excitement due to the prospect of being able to train, apprehension due to facing any decline in strength and/or physique as a result of repeated lockdowns. Here are some perspectives from someone who got back to the gym a few months ago, having moved abroad. Hopefully, it helps with the mental gymnastics which will inevitably ensue, upon your return.
It was Beyond Your Control
Whether you rented equipment from your local gym, switched to running, did bodyweight exercises, or went full couch potato for the past year; you have to accept that the gym closures were beyond your control. There should be no guilt whatsoever as you unrack the empty bar and feel gassed. Not everyone was equipped to train at home. Both in terms of actual equipment, and in terms of having the discipline needed to train at home with no social engagement from fellow gym-goers. We are social creatures, and gyms are popular for a reason.
I have cited the serenity prayer in other posts, and it is certainly relevant here, be you religious or not:
“[Insert Deity], grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference”.
This was beyond everyone’s control, however, the outlook you choose to adopt moving forward is 100% within your control.
Start Slow
Unless you are a genetic freak (and I know a few), your lifts will not be anywhere near where they were last year. Accept this, or risk setting yourself back several more months through tearing a muscle in an attempt to lift the same weight, at the same level of intensity as you had previously. Even if you had been doing bodyweight exercises, power bands, etc, it is a different discipline, working different energy systems, most likely in a much higher rep range, than your non-pandemic routine.
I would look to see if you can manage your regular routine at 75% of the weight you lifted pre-lockdown, at 2 sets per exercise, at the same rep range. The reason I say two sets, is that your muscles will get a nasty shock, and you want to limit the amount of unnecessary pain you will be in for your first week back. If you usually lift at three sets of 8-12 for example, switch to two light warm-up sets, and two working sets.
Following one week of doing this with your workouts, go back to three sets and then look to progress with every workout, paying extra attention to your form, recovery, and nutrition. Your strength and physique will return, at a faster rate. Which leads me to muscle memory.
You Had it Once, You’ll Get it Again
Thank God, Jehovah, Buddha, Kanye, etc for muscle memory. A phenomenon where you will regain muscle and strength at a quicker rate than it took to build both in the first place. But how quickly? and does it apply if I took a full year off training?
Most studies on muscle memory are conducted on newbie lifters and for periods lasting 16-24 weeks, where the breaks are much longer than the periods most of you have been without a gym. However, what is important is the mechanism. It is thought that muscle memory permanently upgrades your hardware (for want of a better term), so you will always regain muscle and strength at that faster rate, provided you progressively work back to your previous levels of volume and intensity.
With the lack of long-term studies on the subject, I can provide some anecdotal evidence in my own situation that I have experienced this. When I was living in California I did a deep dive into yoga where I lifted very little for about half a year. When I returned to Ireland, I was quite ill for a further 6 months where lifting was out of the question.
However, with regular training, I quickly got back to the physique I was at before I took the breaks. It took about three months I would say, as opposed to the years I had been training previously.
A Word on Alcohol
If you’re serious about getting back into shape as quickly as possible, ditch the booze, or at least cut it down during this phase of regaining your previous levels of performance. Just trust me on this one. I have drawn out my regain and even went a little backwards due to a little too much fun lately. Besides, it’s not going to be the same kind of social scene we’re used to in Ireland, for some time to come.
A New Hope
So hopefully this post will remove any apprehension, instill some much-needed acceptance and patience, and provide hope that by the end of the summer, you are right back to your previous levels of fitness, with COVID-19 being a distant memory.