Five Ways To Safely Rebuild Your Workout Routine After A Festival Break

Start Small: Don’t expect to start right where you left off, even if you are experienced and highly skilled in the exercises you are doing. Trying to jump right into advanced exercises or lifting too heavy of a weight can put unnecessary strain on your muscles and tendons that haven’t been used.You can injure yourself and risk your fitness levels instead which would deter you from starting a strong workout routine, hence it is important to ease back into your fitness. Start with less weight when lifting or half the number of reps as before or exert less in cardio than you previously used to. (Image source: Canva)

Build Sustainable Habits: Find what works for you and build a sustainable routine that you will not give up on easily. Your previous workout routine and or exercise class may not be motivating enough for you or may be too strenuous for your body now that you are less motivated. Choose small habits or activities that you know you can stick to for the long run. Try a group class and get motivated in a fitness community to be able to hold yourself accountable to your workout routine. (Image source: Canva)

Set Realistic Goals And Celebrate Achieving Those Goals: It’s important to set small achievable goals, rather than unrealistic expectations for being able to do what you used to do previously. You may start at a lower weight or a shorter running time than before your festive break, but it is normal. If you set realistic goals to work on, you will be able to motivate yourself towards that goal and hold yourself accountable. Further, reward yourself after completing a workout, achieving a personal record or simply staying consistent with your routine. (Image source: Canva)

Fuel Your Body And Hydrate: Ensure that you are eating adequately, especially now that you are adding activity and exercise into your routine. A balanced diet with carbohydrates for your main source of energy and protein to repair your muscles from exercise will help you refuel your body while rebuilding your workout routine. Dehydration can also lead to cramps, dizziness and other problems; hence it is equally important to hydrate yourself while exercising. (Image source: Canva)

Rest, Recover And Stretch: After a long break from exercise, DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness is unavoidable hence, hydration would help flush out the buildup in your muscles that cause soreness as well as stretching. Increasing stretching and movement around will increase the blood flow and help speed the repair time in your body. The best preventative measure you can take is warming up and cooling down before and after your workout. (Image source: Canva)

Inputs By: Drishti Chhabria, Founder & Chief Experience Officer, Orangetheory Fitness, India (Image source: Canva)