How To Get Back Into A Fitness Routine

Having a consistent fitness routine shows your hard work and dedication to your overall health. When we fall out of it for a long period of time, it’s hard to get back into that same habit.

It’s a hard pill to swallow sometimes looking back at how you used to kill it at the gym, but remember you’re not alone. I’ll provide some tips that, I’m also using, to get back into a consistent fitness routine. 

1. Having A Healthy Mindset

Working out should be a time where you can focus on you and improve yourself. Try to leave all of your stress outside of the gym when you enter. Also, remember to be easy on yourself. You may seem as if you’re starting from scratch again.

In some ways, you are regarding having a consistent fitness routine. But your muscle memory kicks in and starts to remember the motions again.

Creating a safe space mentally can significantly help your workout. Although, I’m no doctor I do believe working out gets our endorphins going. Which is why we feel much happier or energetic after a finishing workout. So, if you’re not focused and bringing more stress into your workouts, this can lead to a crappy workout or even injury.

2. Going Back to Basics

This is important to instill early on day one when you begin your fitness journey again. I guarantee you’re going to want to push yourself and see if you can still lift the weight you used to before.

I think we all have that thought in the beginning. You have to remember that you will not be as strong as you were before right out of the gate. 

I’ve had to restart my fitness routine a few times, and the thing that has always helped me is to lift weight that I can manage while doing more reps. Starting off at a slower pace because we have to get our body back adjusted to putting that much strain on it again.

Slowly but surely, you will get back to how you used to be and even surpass your previous physique or create new personal records!

3. Improving Diet

We all know it’s easier said than done, but we have to really try to improve our diets starting up our fitness routine. Without improving our diet, your fitness journey may be prolonged.

We can take small steps by substituting one of your meals for throughout the day for a healthier choice. This is sort of introducing you and your body to something slowly instead of all at once. This is probably one of the hardest things to start doing, but when you do it gradually it’s so much better. 

4. Create A Schedule

Creating a schedule helps you keep yourself accountable and on track with your progress. This is key when you are trying to get back into a set fitness routine. Some days you’ll lack motivation, but you have to hold yourself responsible and hit your scheduled workout day.

Consistency is so important and having a good workout schedule helps tremendously. I use the calendar app on my iPhone to help keep me on schedule. Of course, as time goes on you won’t even need to use a calendar because it will have become a great healthy habit.

5. Set Achievable Goals

Goal setting is important because we always want to be working toward something. It gives you hope and something to look forward to. This can spark great motivation in times when you need it most.

You also want to set realistic goals. The way I usually set my goals is by splitting them into two groups; short term and long term.

Short term milestones are for smaller wins such as hitting the gym consistently for a week. These small wins gives you motivation to keep pushing on. Long term milestones are usually goals you have for your overall health and physique that you want to achieve.

This helps me keep what’s important and why I’m doing this into perspective. Also, hitting your goals is such an incredible and addicting feeling!

6. Rest Days Are Important!

Resting is just as important as your diet or going get a workout in. You have to prioritize rest days and getting a good night’s rest so your body can recover. You never want to go without sleep for days on end because your energy levels are going to be off. I try to aim for 6-8 hours a night, which leaves me feeling rested. 

On your rest days, you can do things like stretching or creating your next workout. Always having a plan is nice even if it’s a rough draft. So take your time and take your rest days. 

7. Look Good, Feel Good

It’s true what they say, when you look good you feel good. I enjoy buying or wearing gym apparel that I like. Helps keep me motivated and excited to go to the gym as well.

I have a few apparel brands that I love and the quality of their items are always top tier. I’ve gotten things from Alphalete and Inaka Power and never regretted my purchases. They really spend a lot of time on perfecting all of their pieces. 

Heading Into Our Fitness Journey

Getting back into a fitness routine can be challenging. Anything worth having is never a quick process. It takes time to build a foundation, and we should be enjoying those little moments while building it. 

These tips to start your fitness routine journey will help you get to your goal while also encouraging you to enjoy the process.

As soon as you create your habit of working out again, these tips will help you improve the overall journey. Creating split workout days (link workout blogpost) can also help as well. Enjoy the journey and I hope everyone achieves the goals that you all set for yourselves.