Yo everyone. Long story short, ran gear and lifted religiously for 6 years. I gained A LOT over those years. Competed a little but more so just loved training. I am just recently coming back after 8 months off due to unfortunate life circumstances. Obviously I lost a lot of what I accomplished over the years. I’m coming back in more motivated and disciplined than ever. Any advice? It’s overwhelming to think that all the work I put it doesn’t even show anymore.
My advice would be to thinks about yourself in today’s terms. It’s devastating if you compare today to your old peak. Today is your new starting point, and you can set PRs and progress relative to that.
As an analogy, think of winning the Super Bowl. That’s an awesome accomplishment and it can’t be taken away. Next year is a whole new season where you can start fresh. If you were still in “playoff” mindset, losing week one means it’s all over. If you’re looking ahead to a fresh season, it’s fairly meaningless and just part of the journey.
5 Likes
It will come back relatively quick. Just don’t rush it and jack yourself up. Strength will likely go up much quicker (my experience with prolonged layoffs providing a good baseline existed), just have to mentally manage the part where your appearance lags behind the strength gains.
3 Likes
My advice is start from ground zero. Everytime I have a restart I always want to jump immediately back into where I left off, not such a great idea.
Take a few weeks to let your body get used to the idea that you are training again.
It will come back quickly, but give yourself some time to adapt.
5 Likes