Returning to Fitness: Prepare Your Body to Get Back to The Gym or Sport

August 10, 2021

We made it. We are starting to see the end of this pandemic that completely turned the world upside down and forever changed many of our lives.

The good news is that dawn has arrived, and that sun has begun to peek over the horizon. Life has a semblance of normalcy again and the world is now starting to open back up.

The gyms are open baby and it’s time to do some fitness!

Community & accountability

Before we go any further, I first went to highlight and recognize some incredible gyms in the Seattle and Portland area.

If you are new to fitness and don’t know where to begin, these amazing facilities have Tangelo’s stamp of approval.

We are so lucky to have these gyms in our great cities (Seattle & Portland).

Barry’s Bootcamp – 112 Westlake Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Belltown Strength & Conditioning – 2315 Western Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

Fuelhouse – 4027 Leary Way NW
Seattle, WA 98107

Ian Fitness – Locations in Crown Hill, Green Lake, & West Seattle

Modo Yoga – 7110 Woodlawn Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115

Momentum Climbing – 2759 1st Ave S., Seattle, Washington

Orangetheory Fitness – Locations nationwide

Pure Barre – Locations nationwide

Club Sweat – 2455 Northwest Nicolai Street, Portland, OR 97210

Yoga Six – 1516 NW 22nd Ave., Portland, OR 97210

If you are ready to be a part of an incredible community that will help you stay accountable and reach your fitness goal, there is no better place to be than these Seattle and Portland gyms.

That said, you might feel intimidated about working out again because your whole pre-pandemic routine has been turned on its head.

Not ready to hit the local gym?

First off, I am here to tell you that you are not alone…. And my goodness… give yourself some grace. If you are harboring any self-doubt or guilt — I am here to tell you to squash it right now and to turn your attention to the next 15 months and not the previous 15.

The past does not matter.

Time to change our movement

Now, like our mindset, it’s time to change our movement. One of the biggest factors that lead to injury (something I know a thing or two about), is getting too amped up and doing too much too soon. You have to temper your excitement and take it slow.

I am going to say this one more time, temper your excitement and take it slow.

The person you are today is different from the person you would be a year ago…. And the person you are going to be next year is better than the person you have ever been.

Here is a simple strategy to help you return to activity and greatly reduce the risk of injury.

A simple strategy to return to an activity

Remember, everyone has a different story, so this might not apply to you, but I feel confident saying that it will apply to most.

So, say that you used to run a mile no- problemo in 2019, and you haven’t run much since. Here is what I want you to do.

Cut your mileage in half, and don’t run again until you are fully recovered. From there, increase your distance by no more than 10% every week. For example, a half-mile is 800 meters.

This means you will be running 880 meters next week and 960 meters the week after.

Again, your frequency is entirely contingent on your recovery time. Do not force more sessions because you are impatient. This will not end well.

Additionally, I want you to apply this principle to everything else you do, including and especially weightlifting.

For example, if you used to bench 200lb pounds — I want you to cut it to 100lbs, then 110, 120, and so on. And remember, don’t hit it again until you are fully recovered.

Stiffness due to inactivity

Finally, I want to talk about stiffness due to inactivity. From an injury prevention standpoint, if your joints are not moving optimally, you are going to compensate and this compensation can lead to pain … and pain can lead to just being pissed off.

Well, I am here to say that I can help.

Below are my 5 favorite mobility drills you should be doing and that you probably didn’t know about.

Practice two sets of ten of these 3 times per week.

The links to the full exercise tutorials for these videos are in the description below.

There you go.

Again, remember that the sun is coming up and the person you are going to be next year is going to be better than the person you have ever been. Let’s do this Seattle and Portland.

Time to get moving.