Getting Back Into Training After A Long Layoff.

 

     If you've ever been forced to stop training for any length of time due to personal issues, injury, illness, or even a global pandemic, you understand how challenging it can be just to get started. For most of us just the thought of having lost all the moment we had built up, to take so many steps back in our training, could feel overwhelming. As with so many things in life, our attitude is going to be instrumental in allowing us to successfully transition back into our training.

     I, like most of you out there, spent the better part of a year away from my training, and am just now starting to get back into a normal routine. During any lengthy time away from training I've always made sure to do one thing, stay connected. I had an old professor of mine once tell me how important it was to stay connected to my training even when I couldn't physically participate. At the time I really couldn't understand the importance of his statement. It wasn't until years later when I was having shoulder surgery and facing a significant amount of time away from training that I understood the idea of staying connected.

     Whether it's simply sitting in on a class, watching a competition or training video on Youtube, a phone call, facetime, text, or e-mail to classmates, coaches, or professors, staying connected is the first and most important step. Setting up a network of supportive and like-minded people and utilizing it when in-person training is not an option can have a significant impact on your training. Put simply, it can mean the difference between coming back to train and picking up where you left off or stepping away for good. 

     When you do finally make it back into train it's really important to remember to keep your expectations simple, and reasonable. Don't come in with any preconceived ideas of where you should be mentally or physically. Just allow yourself time to readjust and transition back into training, nothing more Simply appreciate the fact that you're finally able to back to doing what it is you love, surrounded by people who share your passion!.

 Once you've allowed yourself a few weeks adjust time then start to implement good training habits by focusing on re-establishing a routine and training regiment. The idea is to lay down your foundation in incremental steps in which one builds off of the other, don't get too ahead of yourself. Remember, the goal it's not simply to train for the week, that month, or the year. You want to make it a lifelong pursuit and train as long as you are physically able. It's a marathon, not a sprint!