Bouncing Back refers to getting back into the gym after falling off, time away or dealing with a personal issue that’s caused you to go into a funk or unproductive place for a period of time. Being totally transparent, Monica and I had a pretty tough and emotional summer dealing with the loss of two family members in consecutive months. In July, my cousin passed away suddenly and in August, we lost our grandmother. Grandmother was particularly difficult because she was our last living grandparent and we visited her every Sunday since 2011 when she moved to Texas. Sunday was her day and she looked forward to our visits. She would end each visit by saying “see ya Sunday”. During the months of July through September, we really were emotionally challenged and consumed with family commitments that didn’t leave much time for anything other than making sure family was getting the love and attention needed to cope with everything that was going on. So, now its been approximately a solid 2 months since the transitioning of our Grandmother because that’s what she would want. It’s time to get back into our routine of consistent nutrition, exercise, proper rest and recovery.
Tips for “Bouncing Back”
1. Start slowly with Stretching
Be sure that you begin by warming up and stretching your body reintroducing your body to exercise or activity. Concentrate on your back, legs, hamstrings, knees, and quadriceps(thighs). All of these body parts are essential in getting active and performing the most basic movements in exercise. Warming these up properly will definitely ease some of the soreness that is bound to show up the next day or two because of the previous inactivity. All of this should take about 10 - 15 minutes.
2. Take it Easy on the Cardio
Once warmed up properly, set the timer for about 30-minutes to walk on the treadmill, elliptical or stairclimber. Get your heart rate up and the blood pumping through your veins. Work up a sweat and burn some calories. Do some cool down stretches and call it a day.
3. Add in some resistance/ weight training
Once you have completed about a week of flexibility and light cardio, start to incorporate light weights into your workouts. Weight training should be about 25-30 minutes, in that time frame, there is not a whole lot of standing around and resting.
Here is a body part workout split you can use to help structure your workout.
Work each body part for 3 sets @ 8-10 reps.
• Monday: Chest
• Tuesday: Back
• Wednesday: Shoulders
• Thursday: Legs
• Friday: Arms/Abs
• Saturday/Sunday: Off
In total after incorporating weight training your complete workout should take about:
10 minutes - stretching and warm up
25 minutes - easy cardio
30 minutes - weight training
About 1 hour and 5 minutes of work. Add in a quick stretch after a workout to cool down.
After a couple of weeks, the “Bounce Back” is part of your routine again.
If you take a break, fall off or life just happens.
Don’t beat yourself up, just jump back in the game and do your best.
Being consistent will help you to achieve your goals.
I promise we’ll try to be more consistent going forward but wanted to explain the absence.
Much love,
KB