How To Get Back Into Training After A Long Break

I’m back from my honeymoon Mexico!

What a GREAT time!

Lot’s of much needed R and R with the wife 😉

I can’t even begin to explain how much fun I had.  Chillin’ out next to the beach, eating great food, enjoying the sun…

Good stuff.

Now it’s back to getting some serious stuff done before the year ends.

First up, while I was away I received a ton of questions in regards to how to get back into training after a long overhaul.

Since I was in a similar situation while being away from home, I thought this post would be perfectly fitting.

I can see how some people may get sidetracked especially when they are out on the road a lot, but there’s always a way keep yourself on track.  If it’s that important you, you’ll find a way.

While I was in Mexico, even though I didn’t have access to a full gym, I still managed to go 110% H.A.M.  In fact, while I was there I was able to fit in 3 different workouts which I’m sharing with you below.

The first day I did a workout taken from Phase II of Operation: Rogue Strength that’s within TrainAggressive.com.

Here’s how that went…

1A) KB / DB Double Power Cleans 4 x 10
1B) Kneeling Jump to Vertical Jumps x 3 after each set Cleans

5A) 5 Rounds Of:
a) DB Man Makers x 5
b) 30 secs of inclined mountain climbers on the treadmill (these kill)
***Rest 1:1 and repeat

The second workout I did was an ALL bodyweight Tabata style workout which was a nice little circuit I hit before we hit up a candle light dinner one night.

That went like so:

3 Rounds of 20 secs on w/ 10 secs off of:

• Squats
• Push Ups
• Lunge Jumps
• Pull Ups (for the first round then the post felt like it was going to break so I switched to Renegade Planks)

***Do 3 rounds of each movement then go to the next

***Repeat the TOTAL circuit x 3 rounds

The last workout I did was simply sprints on the beach.

[embedplusvideo height=”281″ width=”450″ standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/WEbRxTj6CQc?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=WEbRxTj6CQc&width=450&height=281&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep2838″ /]

I could have gotten away with doing this workout every morning as the view was simply unreal!

Fresh air, sand, and the ocean all right there = You can’t beat this!

Now, I understand everyone is different as everyone has different schedules, and everyone has different goals.

For me, staying on track is easy because I make fitness a TOP priority in my life.  I know it’s that important.

I speak a lot on how training needs to be apart of your life.  It’s not a temporary thing.  Fitness and training needs to be an “all the time” sorta thing.

But again, I know people have different views and priorities…

With that being said, if you do find yourself in a big rutt and you’ve taken a bit of time off and have gotten sidetracked, here’s a schedule you can follow that will get YOU back on track…

#1 – Get back into it NOW – NO waiting.

One of the biggest EXCUSES I hear when people talk to me being sidetracked it the old, “I’m waiting till X to get started again…”

That will do NOTHING for you.

That’s what “amateurs” do.

From now on you’re a PRO (I’ll speak more on this in a future post)

If you’ve been out of the game fro a while or have fallen off track, the easiest and most effective thing you can do is to get back into it NOW.  If you’ve taken a long time off of training, best thing to do is hit some bodyweight workouts which I’ll speak more on in a sec.

Bodyweight Training is the best way to get back into things without doing too much damage.

I could crank a bodyweight workout right now if I wanted to in between writing this post as it’s that easy and anyone can get into it.

Bottom Line – Start with the basics and go from there.

#2 – Re-Figure up your goal and ATTACK!

This is an important step.  Re-figuring up your goal or creating brand new one’s will help you get get refocused, re-energized, and motivated beyond belief.

This will also help you shine some light on a new path.

Another good reason to do this is so that you have some goals.  Most people don’t have any goals to begin with which is why they often find themselves in a rutt or wy off track.

If this is you, I’d make sure to come up with some highly meaningful goals, and then write those goals down ASAP.

Bottom Line – You’ve got to have goals! 

#3 – Come Back With Bodyweight 1^st

Instead of coming out of the gate with guns-blazing by hitting the heavy weights, make your first 3-6 workouts back after your training hiatus just bodyweight training.

I’d especially recommend this if you’ve taken a ton of time off from lifting heavy stuff.  Even if you’re a highly experienced lifter, you’d want to make sure to follow this rule.

You’ll beat your body up pretty good if you go right back into hitting the heavy weights.  I recommend giving it a good 3-6 full body focused bodyweight only workouts to get your body back into the groove.

If you’ve gotten extremely de-conditioned, you may need more then just 3-6 workouts depending on where you personally stand, you could need up to 3-4 weeks of just bodyweight training. It’s all relative to your own fitness level.

#4 – Slowly add back in weight via dumbbells, sandbags, and kettlebells.

Now, before you go cranking out the heavy deadlifts and squats, I again recommend not getting into the heavier stuff just yet.

After a few workouts back into it, I’d then start adding in weights via dumbbells, sandbags, kettlebells, or even bands before you load up the barbell with heavy weight.

Blending kettlebells, sandbags, dumbbells, and bodyweight together is a great and highly effective way to slowly add in resistance that won’t kill you.

I would follow the same rules as we did with the bodyweight only workouts a do anywhere between 3-6 workouts or up to 3-4 weeks of training to get your body acclimated to training with resistance again.

#5 – Go and Stay 110% H.A.M.

Now, after you go through this process and get yourself back in to the mix, it’s time to STAY in the mix.

NO MORE EXCUSES! 

Excuses will get you back to square one…

I know everyone will be different in how they progress, but nothing pisses me off more then when I talk to someone about getting back into training after a long layoff to only find out later that they again fell off the wagon.

This is why step #2 is so important. 

You’ve got to have goals.

Goals will keep you focused and on target.

If you don’t have goals, you’ll more then likely find yourself back in the same spot trying to figure out how to get back into it again.

Make training and staying in the mix a bigger priority in your life.

Make attacking LIFE and your FITNESS 110% H.A.M. an “All of the Time” thing.

It NEVER stops!

It’s great to be back 😉

Live and Train Aggressive!

PS – I’m running a special 30 Day Trial Promo right now for a very short time to join my Aggressive Strength Army and become a member within TrainAggressive.com

One of the main reasons people fall off track is because they have ZERO accountability or support.

You can get all the support YOU need + MORE!

Take a 30 Day Trial NOW for only $6.95 – CLICK HERE FOR INFO

This will be gone in a few days…