Going back to the gym after a break: your first weeks back

Every January and every September I see the same thing. Someone who used to train walks back into the gym after months away, loads the bar with what they lifted last time, and can barely walk down the stairs for the next three days. Then they don't come back for another fortnight. If you've trained before and you're returning after a break, the first few weeks are about getting the habit back, not proving anything.

The good news is that research suggests you'll get back to where you were faster than you might think.

What a study on training breaks found

Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland ran a trial with 55 healthy adults who hadn't done strength training before, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. Everyone did supervised, twice-weekly, whole-body sessions.

One group trained for 10 weeks, stopped completely for 10 weeks, then did another 10 weeks of the same training. The other group did nothing for the first 10 weeks and then trained continuously for 20.

During the break, strength and muscle size went down, as you'd expect. But when the first group started again, they made quick progress. After about five weeks of retraining, their strength and muscle size were back to their pre-break levels. By the end, both groups had made similar gains in leg press and biceps curl strength and in muscle size.

One of the researchers summed it up in the university's announcement: "after only five weeks of re-training, the pre-break level had already been reached". The authors concluded that people shouldn't worry too much about occasional short breaks over a lifetime of strength training.

The caveats

This was a fairly small study in healthy adults with an average age of about 32, who were beginners when it started. The break was 10 weeks, so it doesn't tell us much about a break of a year or more, or about coming back after an injury or illness. The researchers also say the reasons for this "muscle memory" effect aren't fully understood yet.

Why you still need to ease back in

Regaining strength quickly doesn't mean you can pick up exactly where you left off. Your muscles may come back fast, but the soreness from a big first session is real, and it's what puts most people off. So start lighter than you finished and let the first couple of weeks feel almost too easy.

A simple first session back

Keep it short and leave the gym feeling like you could have done more.

1. Warm up for five to ten minutes on a bike, rower or cross-trainer at an easy pace. Then do a few slow reps of the world's greatest stretch on each side to loosen your hips and upper back.
2. Pick four or five moves that cover the whole body, such as a leg press, a lat pulldown, a goblet squat, a chest press machine and a seated row.
3. Do two sets of each, using roughly half to two-thirds of what you used to lift. Stop each set with a few good reps still in the tank.
4. Finish with a few minutes of easy stretching or walking. A few slow rounds of cat-cow on all fours are an easy place to start.

If you're not sure what you used to lift, choose a weight you could lift about 15 times and stop at 10 to 12.

Building back up week by week

For the first two weeks, train two or three times a week and keep the sets the same. From week three, add a set to your main moves or nudge the weight up a little when the last reps start to feel easy. That's progressive overload, and it works just as well the second time round.

Writing down what you lift helps a lot here, because it stops you guessing and shows you the progress. Our workout log guide explains a simple way to do it.

The NHS recommends strengthening activities on at least two days a week, alongside 150 minutes of moderate activity, in its adult activity guidelines. Two solid sessions a week is a perfectly good target to come back to.

Soreness or something more

Stiff, achy muscles a day or two after your first session back are normal and usually ease within a few days. Sharp pain, pain in a joint, swelling, or pain that gets worse rather than better is different. Stop that exercise and speak to your GP or a physio. The NHS also suggests checking with a GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have a health condition.

Getting started again

If you'd like the basics refreshed, our first day at the gym guide covers gym etiquette and a gentle first visit, and the beginner 3-day gym plan gives you a structured few weeks to come back to. A FitFitCity membership adds full plans and a workout log if you'd like everything in one place.