Nervous About Returning to Strength Training
Earlier this week, a longtime friend and client called me and said she was scheduling her first workout back at Discover Strength in over 4 months.
“I know I need to be doing this.”
She went on to tell me that she used to be incredibly consistent. Twice a week and never missed a workout. Over time, this turned into once per week. Years go by, and she was training once a month. Now, it had been four months without a strength workout.
“I’m intimidated. I don’t want to be sore for five days. I had made so much progress in the past, and now I’m starting over (and she wondered if those previous workouts were a waste of effort… and money?!)”
She told me, “My first thought is that I’ll start with a solid cardio routine, and then I’ll restart strength training.” As she said it, she realized, “That doesn’t make any sense… Strength training is the best form of exercise to burn calories, lose fat, and add muscle. I need to get back to it.”
She asked me, “How do I get back into it?”
Six thoughts for you to consider if you find yourself in a similar place.
If you are worried about soreness, dial back the intensity for the first 2-3 workouts, and then gradually ramp up. If you are training at DS, this means literally telling the Exercise Physiologist you are working with that you are apprehensive about soreness and you’d like to ease into your first 2-3 workouts. To be clear, we can’t mitigate soreness by stretching, foam rolling, cold plunging, or massage (so don’t bother trying).
Muscles have memory. The workouts we did last year, last decade, or even 30 years ago still benefit us after a long layoff. Our strength training workouts stimulate the production of new myonuclei. When we stop strength training for a period of time, research shows us that yes, we lose our muscle and our strength, but we still retain the myonuclei. Thus, when we return to strength training, we have the opportunity to add muscle and strength much faster.
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. A 25+ year body of research suggests that a very minimal dose of strength training produces great results. A commitment to one workout per week is very effective.
No shame. She told me, “I’m a little embarrassed and ashamed to come back; so maybe I should just strength train at the free fitness center in my apartment building.” Immediately, she went on to say, “But I won’t know what I’m doing, I won’t select the right exercises, I won’t pick the right weights, and I won’t push myself hard enough… and I probably won't even do it.” Take home message: Don’t let shame compel you to choose a suboptimal approach to training.
Don’t wait until the sea calms to develop a health/exercise habit. Because when the seas get choppy, you’ll discontinue. The best time to start is when life is the most chaotic.
Schedule it. What gets scheduled, gets done.
