Now that the holiday season is behind us, you might be looking to get back on top of your training and exercise routine. Like a lot of people, you may have dropped back on the frequency and intensity of your training sessions over the holidays. It can be tempting to jump straight back to the training plan you were using before the holidays, but in order to keep yourself safe and injury-free, we have a few tips you should take into account to help you build your strength and endurance back up first.
Do A Tester Session
Take it slow your first session back - see how things feel and what your body is still capable of. Odds are, you won’t have lost very much strength or endurance at all; breaks are excellent for recovery. But, it’s still wise to test the waters before going full steam ahead.
Slowly add weight or time back
Once you’ve done your test session and know where you’re at, you can slowly increase your sessions over time to get back to where you were. Whether that means adding more weight, increasing the length of sessions or anything else, do so in small, achievable progressions. It can feel frustrating to think you’ve lost some strength or stamina, but it will come back to you much quicker than you think. Trust the process!
Prioritise Recovery
You might be feeling more soreness once returning to training after a bit of a break - this is where proper recovery plays an important part in your routine. Properly warming up and cooling down, as well as including additional recovery tools in your schedule can assist with allowing your body to quickly re-adapt to the levels it was at before your break. Helpful recovery tools you might consider including in your routine might be:
Compression
Foam rolling
Electrode Muscle Stimulation
Cryotherapy
& others
If you have any questions about what recovery tools or techniques might be right for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to us! We have a wide range of options available for you at STAR which you can see here.
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