Fall Off the Wagon? 5 Tips to Get Back in Shape
Sometimes even the best intentions, like sticking to a fitness routine, can fall flat. Whether you quit working out because you got busy, got bored, or got injured, it doesn’t matter. And, importantly, it doesn’t mean you failed. Most people who start working out fall off the wagon at one point or another. Sometimes for days or weeks, but often, for months or even years.
What does matter is recognizing what went wrong so that when you get back in the saddle again, you won’t make the same mistake twice.
5 Tips to Get Back in Shape
1. Identify Why You Stopped
Whatever the reason you fell off the fitness wagon, just accept it, then zero in on what the hell went wrong. A FAILed exercise routine is only your First Attempt In Learning. You probably were trying to do too much of a good thing and didn’t realize your limitations until it was too late. The most common reasons fitness routines fail are:
Unrealistic Expectations — We hate to burst your bubble, but you’re not going to lose 10lbs overnight, but you can lose roughly 3lbs a day, especially if you’re starting at a higher weight, to begin with.
Poor Attitude — Can you accomplish anything with a bad attitude? If you walk into a new spin class knowing you can’t do it, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Unrealistic Comparisons — You’re unique, so quit comparing your results to Joe Jock or to a time when you were fitter; it’s not helpful.
Unhealthy Lifestyle — Just because you can slay a HIIT workout doesn’t mean you get a free pass to overeat or drink too much; it’ll sabotage your hard work. So, if you stopped because you weren’t seeing the results you wanted and blamed your workouts, maybe you need to look to your diet. Need nutritional advice? Grab a copy of our BodyRock Meal Plan eBook.
Wrong Exercise — Who wants to stick with a fitness program if they don’t love it? It doesn’t matter if everyone else swears by it; if you don’t like it, it won’t work for you. Find the perfect workout for you at BodyRock+ today!
2. Learn from Your Mistakes
Once you identify why your workout routine failed, it’s time to learn from your mistakes. If you thought you’d lose weight faster than humanly possible, rejig your expectations. Or, if you thought you’d become a runner overnight on bad knees, then try something new. Become a BodyRock+ member and join our family for support, advice and motivation. We have thousands of classes for all fitness levels, likes and types.
3. Make a Plan
Before you lace up your sneakers for a half-formed idea, sit down, do your homework, figure out a small attainable goal, and then nail down a workout schedule. How many days can you commit to and for how long? And finally, to form a healthy habit in keeping with your goal, don’t over-commit as too many sweat sessions without a break can overwhelm you (body and mind)—thus, killing your fitness routine before it takes off.
4. Work Your Way UP
First and foremost, as you restart your fitness journey, DON’T compare your current fitness level to your previous one; this will undermine your spirit and wreck your efforts. One of the best things you can do to get back into shape is to put a premium on increasing your mobility. Check out our Stretch and Mobility workouts on BodyRock+. Skip the weights in favor of bodyweight resistance to improve your range of motion and loosen things up. Only once you’ve regained your flexibility and reduced your chances of injury, should you pursue more advanced training.
5. Track Your Efforts
Do yourself a favor and buy a day planner like our Shift Happens journal. Mark off the days you’ve exercised so after three months, you can flip back and go, “killin’ it!” It’s an inbuilt celebration just waiting to happen. You’ll also want to track your efforts at the gym, in the kitchen and in your thoughts. If something starts to chafe, find a solution. Get a fitness tracker to compile data — whatever it takes. The idea is you want a journal of your fitness journey, so if you start to notice yourself sliding, you’ll be able to pinpoint its origins and then find a solution.
Tips to Getting Back into Shape
It happens to the best of us: you start a fitness routine with big ambitions, and it blows up in your face—it sucks, but it doesn’t define you. Embrace the failure because there is a reason why your fitness routine failed. In all likelihood, there was probably a missing element, like not having enough rest days. Instead of believing you failed, your failure highlighted a need in your fitness routine, and this is your second chance to learn from your mistakes and get back onto the wagon a little bit wiser.