Take it easy after a long break from working out

I have said this before and I will say it again: Just because you could bench 200lbs 8 years ago does not mean that you can jump straight back in at the level. Your determination might make you think that you can but muscles fade after a period of non use and this is true in everyone, especially as you get older.

There is a friend of mine who recently, after about half a year of near complete inactivity, decided to join a gym and get back in shape. When he did so he went all in during his first couple of sessions and now he has very limited ability to move and has trouble even using his arms normally for regular things in life.

src

If he had asked me before he went back I would have told him to take it easy and just do "baby weights" on the first week. You'd be surprised how much "burn" you can get from high rep/low weight sets if you haven't been in the gym for a long time. He did the opposite. He tried to return immediately to his former glory of lifting heavy stuff and is now paying the price.

This is actually very bad for you too. A little soreness is ok and is actually a thing that a lot of people like myself pursue at the gym every time we go to it. The difference here is that I have been going to the gym 3-4 times a week for around 10 years. This guy did a couple of hours chasing his upper limits on the very first day back. This is an absolutely terrible idea and anyone who has ever took a break and tried to return to god-mode has ended up regretting it the following day or maybe even a week.

For many people, this results in them simply not going back to the gym at all and this isn't good either.

Do yourself a favor when returning to the gym and have a plan. Start with something very small and do high reps of it. I would say 20 reps with zero difficulty is a good place to start. Then, make notes of what you did in a notebook and the next time you go in step it up a teensy bit. Each day you go back keep stepping it up a bit until you achieve a normal amount of soreness the next day and then stay at at that weight level for at least a week.

It may surprise some people, but muscle memory is a real thing but you can't just shock the system by picking up right where you left off months or even years ago. For older people, this is a fantastic way to cause strain in tendons and also your back and spine as well, and can be something that you will have to deal with the rest of your life if you ignore it.

There are no shortcuts in this game, and all the people I know that have ever tried have paid the price and failed.

_{My life has been a bit topsy-turvy over the years. I've finally figured out a system that keeps me healthy and at a good weight. I strongly believe that other people can do the same with simple and small adjustments to their daily life}