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How to Get Back on Track With Your Fitness Goals

Video thumbnail for vimeo video • The Rx Review: Reporting on Fitness and CrossFit News

Exercising five times a week is hard enough as it is, but once you’ve fallen off the bandwagon, it can feel almost impossible to start up again. It’s important not to beat yourself up because it happens to all of us. Instead, concentrate on getting back to your routine as soon as possible.

How to Start Up Your Fitness Routine After a Drop Off

The longer you wait to start exercising again, the harder it will be, so put on your gym clothes after you read this article and start moving. Here’s how to get back into the fitness game.

Force Yourself, But Start Small

Let’s be honest: you’ll probably have to force yourself to get back into your routine. That doesn’t mean you have to work out as hard as you used to, and it’s better if you don’t. If you used to run for an hour, only go for 15 minutes. If you worked out 6 days a week, start at 3 days a week.

Join an Online Fitness Community

When you join an online fitness community, like Physeek Fit, you can chat with other people who can motivate you to get started. But if you just need a bit of moral support or exercise advice, we’re sure you’ll make plenty of friends and learn a thing or two about proper form.

Find the Time or Make Time

Remember that exercise isn’t just about losing weight. Exercise is as essential to human health as eating your fruits and vegetables and sleeping 8 hours a night. If you feel you have no time to exercise, try to see if you can rework your morning routine or workout when you’re at the office.

Consider Your Age and Ability

Anyone can work out at any age, but you may not be able to do certain exercises due to injury, disability, or lack of time. You probably can’t run a marathon or spend an hour on the treadmill every day, and that’s okay. As long as you exercise for 150 minutes a week, you’re good.

Literally Think of the Children

If you’re a parent and you want to pass on good habits to your kids, you should work out in front of them or around them. Depending on the age of your children, they’ll want to run and play outside anyway. Either way, you’re showing your children that exercise is good for your health.

Be Adaptable and Have a Plan B

Although we’d like to think that we’ll never stop exercising again, it’s more healthy to think that another roadblock will throw a monkey wrench in your fitness plans. If you come up with a plan B for times like that, you can still exercise when you can’t commit to a regular routine.

Work Through the Pain (Mostly)

If you were well on your way to your fitness goals, you may forget what it feels like to be sore after a workout. Muscle soreness and fatigue are common when you start exercising but try to ignore these symptoms unless you can’t breathe, you’re overheating, or you’re in extreme pain.

Hold Yourself Accountable

Buy a workout planner and jot down the time, date, and duration of your session every day. This will hold you accountable when you miss a workout. But if you need some extra motivation, look up a fitness challenge online or reward yourself when you meet your fitness milestones. 

Make Realistic Fitness Goals

You may have high expectations for yourself, but don’t put them on a pedestal. It’ll be almost impossible for you to lift 200 pounds above your head, even if you did it in the past, after a lengthy break. That doesn’t mean you won’t reach this goal; you’ll just need time to get there.

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The Rx Review is an independent fitness website, reporting on the Sport of Fitness, functional fitness news, The CrossFit Games, health and diet related information, and also provides reviews on sports performance products.