Why are so many people just missing the boat when it comes to designing an effective bodyweight workout? I mean, it’s not rocket science. What is it that world class trainers know that the average trainee doesn’t?

There are lots of little tips and tricks to make a bodyweight workout more effective at helping you reach your goals. However, there are two main things you need to know: Progression and Consistency.

Yeah, what else is new, right? But wait, what I’m telling you is actually the REASON why people fail at achieving their Continue reading

Image by Crossfit Westside

It happens to the best of us. There are times in your life where you just stop working out. For one reason or another, you find yourself a few months later looking in the mirror and thinking to yourself, “How did I let myself go?”

Well, I feel this sometimes even after a one-week lay off from training. Yes, I’m addicted to training, and I know what it feels NOT to exercise and eat healthy for a long time. I’ve done it before and I don’t want to do it again. Call it paranoia if you will, but I have never taken more than a week off from training in the past three years.

But even with a one-week layoff, I take it easy when coming back into training. The first workout is not as intense as my normal workout.

The best advice I can offer you is to steadily move back into your training program. The following are some tips based how long you’ve been away from exercising:

One- Week

After one week off, the first week should be light, but not too light. A good idea is to take your last workout and tone it down a bit. For example, lets say your last workout was:

Two rounds of:

• 4 Tabata rounds of Burpees
• 2 Tabata rounds Squat Jumps
• 2 Tabata rounds Pushups
• 2 Tabata rounds Leg Pullin

Instead of 2 rounds, perform just one round. And instead of a 20/10 Tabata scheme, try an easier, 30/20 or 30/30 scheme.

One-Month

If you’ve been away from the gym or exercising for close to one month, then you’ll probably need one-two weeks just to ease back in. Aim to have no more than one extremely intense workout per week, and one to two moderate intensity or light workouts. Your first priority should be consistency. Don’t worry about intensity level for now. Just workout at least 3 days a week. Once you are back on track with regular workouts, you can start pushing yourself with the intensity.

One-Year or More

If for whatever reason you’ve been out of action for a year or longer, it’s best you started from scratch. Try to find a basic beginner program, and steadily work on strength, consistency, and intensity. Try the beginner burpee program from my Burpees article .

Getting back into shape isn’t really as hard as it seems. The main thing you need to work on is getting back on schedule. This is where keeping a training log is extremely beneficial. Take a look at the last few workouts that you performed before your layoff, and start from there.

Do you have any additional tips on how to get back into shape after a long layoff?