Going back to the gym after 2 years reddit Only when you sleep you build and recover muscle. 1 advice: don't start with your regular programme when you start working out or else you are going to have horrible muscle pains. Went back twice after getting vaccinated. Thanks for this. I suggest you consider a pt to get you back into training again. Did rehab for 2 months. When I pulled mine off after the gym it came off easy because the amount of sweat under it. Really depends on how detrained you are and how hard you’re willing to working to get it back. That being said, if your goal is "general fitness" and you feel like you are out of shape in general, I wouldn't drop traditional resistance training and focus on bouldering--your tendons will be by far your weakest link bouldering, which will preclude you from really working your muscles as I lifted for 7 years before a shoulder injury put me out of commission for the last two years. Depending on how much and what kind of exercises you did, that initial soreness will peak in 2-3 days and can last for 7-10 days. I would pick a full-body program and go 3 times a week to get back into it. When I got back to the gym I was expecting a massive drop off, but I was very close to my PBs and was able to push on to higher numbers very quickly. After 20 min in into my sessions I felt disgusted with myself. My lifts reduced about 20% in this time. Then covid happened like two weeks later and I didnt enter the gym again for nearly a year. Jumping right back into it as if you never took time off is a bad idea. I've been working out three times a week, one hour per workout in those 2 years. I started going to the gym 5-6 days a week and I've been going consistently for the past 10 days. I came to the conclusion it was due to being over trained before, gym x4 football x3 and boxing x2 per week. For me it's texting my buddy that I didn't go to last year i lost my dad in a car accident. Like you said maybe slowly start working on the diet etc. Stopped for about 2 years. Depends on how advanced you were. I got real small and doughy after those 6 months. I didn't ask any questions, nothing. Some of my goals: 200kg deadlift, 150kg squat, 100kg bench press, 80kg overhead press, 120kg power clean, +40kg weighted pull-up, etc. I then took another 2-3 week break from mid February… I've been going 5x a week for a year and a half lifting weights and jogging, no results - trying to gain muscular mass. That is pretty good The voice in the back of my head keeps telling me to just chill after a long day and have a beer but once you change into gym clothes and park in the gym lot. Just go into the gym and do some warm ups sub ~50% of your maxes before. I ran about . There's videos like this one that promote the use of push/pull/legs straight back into the gym, others say a full body workout is better for the first months. If you feel excessively exhausted, go home. When I came back after that decade, I struggled with doing 12kg (26lbs) for even 5 reps when I came back. I would say at least 3-4 days minimum. after I recovered fully I was back to normal. Took me about two months to get back to where I was and start progressing. May 17, 2017 · I’m going to keep going back until I feel better, and I’m not going to stop there. When class & my summer job ended, the first thing I did was go back to the gym. But the crazy part is my strength kept climbing for a week or two after that. Not sure if I should stick to the schedule or take it easy since I'm starting again. Finally back to going about 6 months ago in my early 30s. Stopped going for most of my 20s. Note that I'm a competitive ballroom dancer, so I've been getting a lot of exercise in the last 2 years, just not weightlifting specifically. Not being able to lift MORE weight than before doesn’t mean muscle isn’t growing. Safety is more important I am 21 (female) and I have lost a lot of weight in the past couple years. When I got back, I started at about 60% of my strength and 50% of my endurance. Just make sure you don't start back too quickly after any kind of break. A few weeks off will not regress you like you think. i was still going to the gym and lifting, and trying to eat well, but my diet was definitely nowhere near ideal. Keep your chin up. If you are sore that means your muscles arent ready to train again. I noticed I stopped losing I took roughly a year and a few months off due to physical and mental health issues. Maybe, after a while, I’ll look into rowing clubs; if exercise is enjoyable, that’s great, good for you. Be careful and take it slow going back to the gym after covid, there is a theory out there if you push yourself too hard too quickly after covid, there’s a chance you’ll get long covid. Pretty soon you're going to be walking for 1 hour a day. If you are a guy who goes to the gym in 2 years youll be in good shape. The gym isn't going anywhere, and in the grand scheme of things, it will be a minute speck of inactivity. I used to go to the gym regularly before Covid. I can give a personal ancedote on this. To make up for that, tomorrow I go to gym regardless of feeling," and then have some sort of motivating factor. Totally fair. On a related note, I started lifting in April this year after taking a 3 year break from the gym and it only took about 2 months to get back to where I used to be. Muscle memory is real This was me two years ago at 39. " About 2 years ago, I got a gym membership and started lifting again. If you feel it too easy, put on another 5%. It can really lead you down a bad path, but for me it became a matter of "Ok. I was exercising at home for the first 5 months or so but getting a workout with 2 dumbbells and a bag of books gets wack real quick. I have always been on off over 2 years, since I turned 18 in 2014. So less weight and also in my opinion be careful how much you do. I'm not thinking clearly, so I will not go to the gym today. Now I am 20yo and since January I have been going to the gym doing a Push/Pull/Legs routine, however afraid to damage my body I avoided compound movements which really limited my workout. I took some years off cause I went back to school and couldnt afford a gym, then I went back, then the pandemic happened and I had to take a break for obvious reasons, then things opened up again, I was going 6 days a week in summer 2020, then things shut again, then omicron happened, and I took another break. 5 miles non for my warm up. Back when I was going to a gym (home gym now) my strategy was to prioritize what equipment I needed most (a rack) and not be afraid to ask or communicate with whoever had it before me. Your new workout is going to be doing everything you can to recover quickly and safely. I stopped for several years after, then did mostly bodyweight stuff for a few years. starting from thanksgiving to the end of 2011, i gave up on going to the gym bc my diet was so bad i It’s the worst thing ever. At this point it's been almost 2 years since I last lifted and this week was my first time back in the gym. Assuming you were at least an intermediate lifter; After about 2 weeks, your strength will begin to slowly decline. With no one hounding me to workout I just didn't go, or made excuses like my ankles and knees hurt, which they did but not enough to not go to the gym. Every day that passed for 2 years made me feel like I was stuck in an endless cycle of being lazy and I would never get back to my flow. I’ve lost about 25lbs, and more than that in strength and fitness. Short workouts ~10 mins 6 days a week. As you can see, not much changed besides me gaining a little bit weight. I’m doing it right now. My routine : -Run 2,5 km to the gym, then also jog same distance back home -5x/week, very, very few exceptions of 3-4x times/week -Sometimes after waking up, not eating much before it After 2 years I lost a lot of muscle but at least I weighed around 75 so I had something to work with, my arms, legs and chest got smaller and gut got a little bigger. Increase it to 20 minutes after a week or two. Hey guys, Just started going back to the gym. I went back after 8 years, wasn’t as strong as I used to be right off the hop, but I gained a lot of it back pretty quickly. About 2 years ago i started heavy lifting again and started with what was, for me really light weight. By the end of the 3rd month you will be noticeably less strong (meaning you could tell just by looking at yourself). The last time I went was about 2 years ago. I just got back to the gym today after 6 weeks due to hernia surgery. You’ll get it back. Had surgery and was in a sling for 6 weeks. You might as well never go back. This is my 4th week already going to the gym and yet my body is still sore after 2 days of every visit. A year plus of being stuck inside all day with a 2 year old has seen about 15+ lbs of weight gain and considerable muscle loss as protein goals went out the window along with pretty much everything else. I need to be okay with doing less for now. You shouldn't go hard if you were out for 2 months. Gotta keep the fire stoked. Got back into healthy eating about a month after birth and got back to the gym 10 weeks after. Did 2 workouts in 2 days, had a rest day, and now I'm supposed to go again. I suspended exercise for approximately a year after one of my most developmental years of training. I just started going back to the gym this year. I pretty much didn't gain any muscles. And just do what is fun, explore what machines and weights and areas the gym has. No point in going without a plan. Starting with something small like walking for 15 minutes every day. I lost the first 20 pounds rather quickly but Iost the other 15 slowly. Both times I was distraught having to stop before finishing my typical routine and the days-long recoveries. Went to the gym every day for 10 years and the pandemic closing my gym and a bunch of bad habits left me doing barely anything for 2 years. When you go back in the gym you will not be able to lift the weight that you could before, don’t try. Then put ~50% on the bar and do the lift. it's over. A simple "can I use that next, I will be right there. A 10 day break might drop your working weights by up to 20 lbs. I just started working out again for the last 2 months and I'm already at 80% of what I was lifting prior to injury. Goal was to build a habit. Just getting there is an accomplishment. No muscle loss and maybe a little strength loss that can be gained back quickly. On top of that, most gyms have a “didn’t show up for 3 days” clause in the contract; when you do go back everyone will point and laugh at you. And make sure you eat enough protein to pump your immune system back up, eat plenty of fruits for the antioxidants, monitor your respiratory function. I have found that over the years, if I knew i was going to take a 2-3 weeks off the gym, training really hard to the point of functional over-reaching in the sessions prior actually works very well in tandem with the other extended break and allows me to hit the weights harder upon return. My weight stayed about the same but my body fat % went up quite a bit. 8 hours- Recovery from surgery before 9 hours- 6 days 6 hours - 3 days removed after gym on day 4 4 hours - 3 days removed after gym on day 4 I would say if it's not covered 7 days minimum, if covered 3/ 4 days depending on your body. I got less than 3 hours sleep. can’t stay focused I used to be massively invested in the gym, workout 5-6 times a week, eat well and be consistently pushing myself. Lifted for about 3 years. This is probably the wrong audience to ask this question--a climbing sub is going to "like" climbing. But I feel and look stronger after just 6 months. after that i comforted myself with food and gained all the weight back and then some. How do i properly get back into working out without putting to much strain on at once. Or if you have trained chest and triceps and chest is all sore, go train your back and biceps the next day. Started back up in June after getting the go ahead from my pt and in just a few months I am nearly where I was when I left off but much more quickly. They do more than what the body is ready for, and that causes some swelling in the muscles which is painful. Currently I am back up over 600 in deads, 550 in squat, and 415 in bench, with a 24 rep bench test. I think 3-4 months 6 days a week was when I felt like I was at a reasonable level. Then life happened (girlfriend, serious studies, work, etc). 2 years back I stopped going due to an assortment of reasons, and have never been able to get back into the dedicated mindset I had before. That being said I decided to start going back to the gym. I kinda want to, but I went pretty hard the last 2 workout s and I'm sore to the point that it's hard for me to do anything. There’s absolutely no reason that you can’t go back, there’s plenty of dudes (and dudettes) at most gyms older than 39, and I’m sure a decent number of them either started or returned to the gym after 39. But tbh, don’t worry about it I feel you man. Just going to the gym won’t bring back everything. It came back super fast, probably like 2 months and I was almost back in everything to what I was. Anything counted - bike, weights, walk, row. I had the same problem after I got out of the Air Force. If you haven't been training for 2 years you don't need a lot of different exercises to grow. Source: I went back to gym 2 weeks ago after 6 months pause and started doing my usual routine (chest and biceps), no need to say more, I couldn't extend my arms for 2 weeks. I realize at times when I go less than 6 days a week, I can get lazy. A few years ago, I started school again, and due to time constraints and stress, I have neglected my gym time. I am still not at my weight goal, but I started working out really hard. After a couple of months, I subscribed to the Peloton app and amended my deal with myself to 30 min. Dancing and walking: for most people these are just fun things to do. I have gone to the gym maybe 10 times over the last two years. Almost like I broke through a barrier or something I recovered from my pneumonia probably around 5 or 6 days into my 10 day regimen of doxycycline. Trying to get back into gym after 2 years. Secondly, don't focus on how hard or tiring working out will be. It really is that You’re down like. 2 days of progress lol. Like, "after work, I will put on my gym clothes". I pretty much stopped lifting and I ate like shit for 9 months while pregnant. It will normally take about 2 months to get back to where I was (not my first time taking a year off). When I got back into the gym in January I couldn’t even bench 165, I got it back to 225 just earlier this week. I feel like I have less energy than when I was younger. I think physically a prolonged break that long is unnecessary but mentally you may need it for other reasons. Muscle memory experience are crazy benefits. People frequently do this their first time at the gym or the first time back after a long layoff. I wouldn’t worry about it. I was following my old workout plan which was a 4 day split workout. I usually end up missing about 2 weeks of workouts due to exams seasons at uni as well as lab work. I benched 225 for the first time last march. Gym: don’t go to the gym to “get a nice workout in”, set goals. After that add a couple of push ups, and so on. Don't go crazy on your first day back either, steadily increase load over a few weeks and you'll be back to pre iso strength levels. I went back to the gym thinking it would be a month or two before I saw some good results but after my first week I saw huge results and was pretty surprised. It comes back faster than you think though. 3plate dead, 255 lb squat, 225 bench. Shortly after I got a membership to a spin studio on impulse and actually fell in love with it. Day 2 - Back, bis, abs Day 3 - Legs, Day 4 - Rest Repeat Then after 2 weeks I will layer a 5km run onto every 3rd day, this way i'm not running with training the muscles every time Anyway thats the short term plan to get me going, i'm only 1 day back at it so far already and I am properly sore already. I didn't even think of going back to the gym for 6 months. Will see how it pans out and then probs go back to the gym after a month or so. Since new years, I started hitting the gym hard again after a long break. So I took about a 2 week break from training, but probably took me about 2-3 weeks to recover my strength. By 6 months postpartum I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight and built back a lot of strength. I've read that we should let our body heal first before going back. Just take the time off and go back to the gym when you feel ready, if you feel the urge after 3 weeks then go back early. Hey! I am at the 6 months mark. To me, after I walk through the gym doors I know I'm not going back home until I workout so I just push out a solid session and always feel better leaving. In your case I’d personally do 2 weeks getting back in the swing of things at like 60-70%, then autoregulate for a month not going over rpe 8-9. . Put in the work and it will come back faster. I was so happy with all my progress, physically and mentally, and just loved going to the gym. You're gonna work out. A few years ago I tore my pec. Now, you're there. What's your opinion? Mar 30, 2025 · I had a 1 1/2 year break from working out due to a gym accident in 2023, which caused life long damages in my neck and upper back area. Only problem was that I'd gained a lot of weight. The last time I used to go to the gym was in 2014, so almost a decade ago. I mostly fell off lifting eventually and got a planet fitness membership to continue with some dumbbell work. Luckily, I have two friends where I live that wake me up at 5 am to go to the gym now. Once you do that, the next logical step is to actually go to the gym. I believe there was a video/ study where a pro lifter went back to the gym after 10 years and in about 6 months he was upto 80% of his PBs. Just rest until all soreness is gone and train again. My biggest obstacle was comparing myself now to before. I wouldn’t really implement progressive overload here. I was working out fairly regular for 2 years, got hurt and took over a full year off from the gym. You'll wanna take the first week easy. Don't worry about your gains, they will come back fast. And gained 50lbs. 5 kg but same routine and fucked my biceps for about two weeks. I used to bench 35kg (77lbs) dumbbells x12 as my working sets. I used to run distance in HS, and we used to ease into running after taking breaks and it would take up to 2 months to return to form. Two things that help are thinking of a ridiculously small task to do that will lead to going to the gym. So today I woke up and went for a run to my university gym. If you are training hard and recovering, you will be back to normal within a year. Instead of going to the gym I just workout at home with resistance bands (x3 bar for those who know). You’re going to lose every gain you’ve ever gotten. You can do 5 minutes and leave no problem no guilt, but you make sure you go regularly. After about 5 months, with breaks inbetween due to The first week after the majority of symptoms stop. After 6 months or so, most days I was working out 45 minutes, 5-6 days a week. By fall I had dropped thirty pounds. Things I've noticed: Not in the gym, not while being awake and sore. If you actually make it all 3 months and still don't have the urge to go back then it may be a different problem This is quite possible, the same thing happened to me after the first UK lockdown. I went back after a month and worked my arms and I was usings 10kg , I went for 7. After my year off this is the time frame it took me to get back to where i felt and looked strong and performed well without feeling like i was pushing myself too hard or putting myself at risk of injury. Do you seriously need to question WHY you need to go to the gym? I haven't went to the gym all summer because I worked 8-4 then I had to travel to class 5-9 and then had to go home from being mentally and physically exhausted. But I'm thinking of going since i think i can still lift despite the soreness although i might not finish my set 57 votes, 30 comments. When learning something new start slow with maybe 10-20 minutes a day then start allocating more time to it. No, I’ve been consistently going to the gym for 20 years. Should take half the time you took off to get back to progressing on average. Start with something that allows you to progress. Jan 5, 2025 · Maybe start out only going to the gym 2-3 times a week. I went back after having covid and couldn’t bench 155 for more than like 5 reps even tho I could do 6 reps of 175 before I got sick. Have a look if there's any fun classes etc. I use to go to the gym a lot in my late teens. I told myself to start: 20 minutes, 5 days a week. tfnstqqmgjkzuzxtowfumafznsuqfseixrecnwshdsqhvpzmwnxpysfngaqrsxsguoaovxuerytvp