COMING BACK FROM A LAYOFF — How to do it right
By Shane Robert
Summer is coming to an end. At least, the school summer that often harkens the start of travel plans, vacations, and long layoffs from training is ending. Many people are returning, or will soon be returning, to their normal training schedules after interrupted and sporadic training and will be asking one of the most common questions in strength training: “how do I return to the gym after taking time off?”
No matter the cause of the break, the biggest mistake is usually the same: trying to pick up exactly where you left off. You remember what you used to lift, feel eager to get back there, and assume your body is ready for the same workload. It isn't. You likely lost some of the adaptations you built before the break, such as strength, muscle size, work capacity, coordination, and tolerance for training volume. The extent varies considerably from person to person and there is no universal rule that everyone loses a specific percentage of strength after a specific number of days. It does, however, occur for everyone.
The good news is that a training break does not erase your training history. Indeed, previous training makes retraining faster. Research suggests that many lost adaptations are regained much more quickly after a period of detraining than they were originally developed. You are not starting from zero. But you also aren’t starting from 100.
Your first workout back may be humbling. The weights may feel heavier due to a loss of coordination, your muscles may look less full, and your conditioning may be worse than you remember. Some changes in appearance and performance during a layoff reflect changes in glycogen and water, not the disappearance of muscle. Don’t let this demoralize you. It will return to baseline quickly.
Treat the first few workouts as a re-introduction to training. Use conservative weights and moderate to low volume. Leave quite a few good repetitions in reserve. One of the first adaptations that you lose is tolerance to work load. You don't need to leave the gym exhausted, and you don't need or want to be crippled by soreness the next day. A good starting point is to treat the re-introduction week like a true deload — use 60% intensity of the first week of a cycle for 60% of the volume for the first day.
A practical example: if you would normally do 4x8 with 250 pounds, your first workout will be 3x6 with 150. This will feel light. That’s the point. You should finish the workout thinking, "I definitely could have done more." The purpose of the first workout is to make the second workout possible, and the rest of the week should make the second week possible.
If the first couple of workouts go well, begin increasing the workload. You might add a set, increase the weight 10% or so, or introduce additional exercises. You don't need to increase everything at once. By the second week, up the weight to 90% of the intensity of the first week of a cycle for 80% of the volume.
Using the 4x8 with 250 example, you use 3x8 with 225.
By the end of the second week, most lifters can begin back to the level of the start of a normal training cycle, but keep in mind that there is no prize for returning to full training volume the fastest.
Don’t lose sight of the fact that a training break often changes more than your workout schedule. Your sleep schedule may have changed. Your diet may be different. You may have traveled, consumed more alcohol, and trained less or not at all. When you return, you're therefore not just returning to the gym. You're rebuilding the lifestyle that supports training. Re-establish regular sleep, adequate nutrition, hydration, and a predictable schedule to support the return to normal.
Taking time off isn't the enemy. You cannot make up for six weeks away by cramming six weeks of training into two. The most successful lifters aren't necessarily those who can survive the hardest workout. They're the ones who can train productively for years. Start conservatively. Increase the workload gradually.
