August 8th, and finally notification arrives that Tamil Nadu government has approved private gyms to open from 10th August, my happiness was over the roof. Fast forward to August 11th, I was lying on my bed crying for what sins had I committed - that I couldn’t feel my legs anymore!
The lesson of the day: Don’t attempt stunts like taking personal records on the first day of entering the gym excited after a sabbatical of over four months.
The long-awaited news is here, and almost gyms are opening everywhere. After over four months of almost no training and losing most of the strength and some of those gains, it’s time to finally get back on track.
Let me cut to the chase, here are some important things you need to know:
If you had been training for quite some time before the lockdown, it takes on average half the time of a break to get back to the normal you left at (thanks muscle memory). So, if you took a break of four months from strength training, give yourself two months to get back at lifting heavy.
Forget your old numbers, they do not matter. Do not start from where you left. This is a big one as most of us might be super excited to enter the gym to hit big numbers the first day (guilty as charged).
Recovery is as important as the stimulus. Stimulus leads to damage, the recovery from it leads to adaptation, and that’s how you progressively overload and get jacked. As we are starting to train after a break, even relatively less intense workouts will create the stimulus for growth but not given the proper time for recovery, and you might find yourself crawling the next day after a leg day due to soreness.
Unlike popular opinion; soreness is not better. It doesn’t mean you trained harder, it doesn’t help with hypertrophy, and it only reduces your performance while training.
Keep taxing workouts at bay for some time or just fly them at low intensity. Workouts with compound movements like squats and deadlifts though having a high stimulus, also have high fatigue which requires more time for recovery. So, it is advised to overload them slowly over time. Cables and machines are the way to go as they provide high stimulus with lower fatigue.
Take training in the gym just like any other skill or sport. If it’s been long you played football you need some time practising the movements to juggle like a pro again. Similarly give time, a week or two just practising the movements. Might sound boring, but that’s the quickest way to progress without getting injured.
Though this one is very individualistic in nature, choosing the right frequency of training is as important. I personally feel that training the same muscle group at least twice a week is the right amount of stimuli needed. After 2 weeks of practising movements and getting comfortable working out, I feel a split like Push/Pull/Leg will be my go-to.
Maintain a journal. It’ll help you analyze your progress better and seeing those numbers ramp-up has a good psychological impact which again acts as a positive feedback loop.
Always re-rack the weights. It’s just basic etiquettes.
Warm-up well before entering a workout. But warm-up does not mean Cardio. Warm-up is 5 min of cycling and not 50 min on the treadmill. Also, have a proper stretching routine before a workout. The priority on our checklist, for now, is not building muscles as much as it is - do not get injured.
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