Getting Back into the Gym

So I was kind of dreading going to the gym this morning. Since I had been sick and had that weird hip thing going on, I made the decision to take last week totally off from the gym. I didn’t want to hurt my hip further and I wanted to be at fully-functional capacity before I got back to the gym.

I spent a lot of yesterday dreading the 5:35 AM alarm and thinking about how I may not be able to get back my strength on my lifts. I had spent at least an hour and a half silently fretting about going back when I finally said something to Nate about it.

“I’m scared about going back to the gym tomorrow.”

“Why? That’s silly. You can do it.”

“But what if I’m weak and can’t do any of my lifts?!”

“You’ll get it back. Relax. Just go and I’m sure you will be surprised.”

I still was unconvinced. Even with Nate reassuring me.

I snuggled into bed, setting my alarm for 5:35 and fell asleep.

As per usual, my alarm always goes off earlier than I want it to, but by the time I heard it, I was ready to go. I hate to say it, but part of my motivation to get to the gym early is so I can beat this couple that irrationally annoys me to the squat racks. They have this terrible habit of doing circuit work and using both of the squat racks for literally everything but squats. If you are one of these people...I kind of hate you. I don’t mind that you are doing modified workouts. But please for the love of god stop using essential areas for them. I just want to do my squats dammit.

Anyway...I hopped out of bed dead set on making it to the gym early enough to snag a squat rack. (They still beat me there but thankfully weren’t using the squat rack…so...that’s something at least).

The instant I got into the squat rack all of those nerves I felt went away. I was even more comforted by the fact that my StrongLifts app apparently keeps track if you haven’t been in the gym in a week and automatically recommends lowering the weight on each lift by 10% (so you know...you don’t end up failing on a lift and feeling dejected because your muscles need to adjust) and then does the calculation for you. I happily clicked “Yes, please” and then got on with my workout.

While I did all of my lifts with that 10% decrease, I did do my bench press at 75 instead of the recommended 70 and then did one set of 80. If you read my bench press stall blog, you’ll know how happy I was to finally break that 70lbs stall. I just couldn’t bring myself to not try to hit 80. So I was thrilled that I could still do 5 reps fairly easily. *happy dance*

The main point here: I spent all that time worrying about getting back into the gym for nothing. I have heard a lot of people who get out of their routine for a week or more say that they are afraid of getting back into it or that it is really hard or that they just can’t seem to do it. This seems to be the case especially when it comes to fitness and exercise. But you can do it!

You can get back to that routine that you spent those long hard hours honing. Don’t be afraid of jumping back into the rhythm. It’s like when you put off jumping into the pool because you are worried about it being cold only to realize that it’s a heated pool. It is never as bad as you think it is going to be and you will feel so much better after.

So if you are off your routine and looking to get back in but are scared. Just remember this motivational corgi and go do it!