We are almost there. Almost at the point where we can visit the gym after COVID and the lockdown to get back to a more regular personal training routine and lift heavy things. For some this may be a new routine, but for most, it will be getting back to “normal”.
This article is going to outline how you can return or start in the gym after COVID in a safe manner, minimise risk of injury, get back to lifting weights, re-gain strength and muscle after having such a large amount of time away from the gym with limited training equipment.
Reducing Your Chance of Injury From Lifting Weights
First off, remember you’re not going to be able to lift as much weight for as many reps as you did before gym’s closed. I apologise if this bruises your ego, but it’s the truth.
However, we can get back to a similar level of performance fairly quickly after gym’s re open.
We just need to be smart about how we get there.
If you go straight back into the gym after COVID on day one and load up the bar to the weight you were doing all those months ago, there is a much higher chance you are going to get injured. You will probably not manage the same amount of reps and if you manage to match what you were doing before you are going to be ridiculously sore and have crazy DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) which will take days to recover from and limit your ability to get back in the gym the following days.
How can we avoid being injured after such a long time?
Manage load – if you haven’t trained at all or with minimal loads/bands at home on your return to the gym you should be looking to start low and build up loading (weight you are lifting).
Start at 50% of what you were doing before as a warm up and see how it feels. Is your technique and execution where it should be? How heavy does it actually feel?
If it feels light go a bit heavier, but build up gradually, maintaining the very best form you can
Cap loading at around 70% of what you were doing before lockdown the first week back.
Why?
Our nervous system will not be prepared to be put under massive amounts of stress straight off the bat. If you load up the bar above 70% I guarantee you won’t be feeling great after attempting a set.
Then your ability to recover from that amount of stress will be impaired.
If you have been lucky enough to have had some decent gym equipment at home with heavier weights, you will be in a slightly better position to recover and handle the stress produced by lifting heavier weights.
However, I still recommend the above strategy for your first week back to limit risk of injury.
Manage Overall Volume – overall workload of your sessions (number of exercises x weight x sets x reps) will come into play when you are getting back to the gym as well.
The total amount of sets & reps you are doing will need to reduce. Especially if you are trying to lift heavier weights sooner.
If you had a programme and were doing 3 sets of 10 reps on squats before, trying to do the same with great technique is probably going to exhaust you. You might find after 1 set even 70% of your “normal” weight feels heavy or you are completely exhausted. Then if you are still trying to do another 6 exercises after, you won’t be walking tomorrow.
Again this is because our body is not prepared for the same overall workload having not lifted heavy weights in such a long time.
What you can do here is lower the number of exercises per muscle group, lower number of sets, lower reps or lower weight, stick to closer to the 50% mark.
If you really want to be safe and build up gradually you can do more than one of the actions mentioned.
Should I train to failure?
In my own training and my clients training, I always push to maximise effort which tends to lead to training to failure or very close to.
For just getting back into the gym this should be avoided initially. Our body and nervous system aren’t ready to be put under such stress with max effort training.
Focus on quality over quantity but leave a little in the tank. The better we recover from each session the quicker we can improve and build up our capacity for larger training workloads.
Here I would use reps in reserve as a way to manage this. Instead of pushing until you can’t do any more reps, initially I would stop 2-3 reps short.
This will limit fatigue and stress through the body making it easier to recover and meaning we can get back in the gym more frequently.
Exercise Selection & Muscle Memory
The skill aspect of different exercises is also going to come into play. Not deadlifted all lockdown? It is going to feel tough when you go back.
Deadlifts are a complex exercise and movement pattern. It takes skill to execute them correctly and therefore will take longer to get proficient at again. The first time you deadlift after lockdown will probably feel a bit awkward and not smooth.
The more complex the movement or exercise, the more time it will take to be able to complete the lift correctly.
Plan your session in advance so you can control how many high skill exercises you are doing and have more lower skill movements in your programme.
This will allow you to progress quicker and generally be easier for you to recover from as they produce less stress on the body.
Avoid using every single machine in the gym, it wasn’t a good idea before lockdown and isn’t now.
If training at home has gotten stale. Yes, use some of your favourite machines and equipment but limit yourself. You don’t need to do 20 different squat variations.
Another thing which should impact your exercise selection, especially for those of you who have been training and had equipment to load exercises more.
As exercises would have been limited with training at home you may have found you have done a lot of compound movements such as bent over rows, RDLs, etc. These movements produce more stress the lower back musculature and tissue.
What you might want to do is rotate in more isolated movements to allow you lower back to recover. Such as cable row or chest supported rows.
Execution & Technique
This should always be prioritised no matter if you have had time away from training or have been training consistently.
These are the easiest things to manage and help prevent/lower risk of injury.
Start light, see how the movement feels with the correct technique and emphasise making every rep the same. The first rep should look and feel like the last.
Execute correctly. Take your time, control the movement, think about what muscles you are working and aim for perfect technique.
Another thing which should impact your exercise selection, especially for those of you who have been training and had equipment to load exercises more.
As exercises would have been limited with training at home you may have found you have done a lot of compound movements such as bent over rows, RDLs, etc. These movements produce more stress the lower back musculature and tissue.
What you might want to do is rotate in more isolated movements to allow you lower back to recover. Such as cable row or chest supported rows.
This is also a great opportunity to review in gym practices before lockdown.
Were you getting the desired results? Were certain muscles fatigued all the time limiting your progress?
You may find that the less is more approach is the one that works and that you were doing too much before.
If you do less and are making better progress after a couple of weeks it would be silly to do more for the sake of it. You would just be digging yourself into more of a hole, increasing injury risk, fatiguing faster, limiting performance and progress for no reason.
Key Points For Going Back To The Gym After COVID:
- Focus on moving again and executing each exercise with quality reps.
- Quality over quantity – manage overall volume, less is more.
- Bring overall load down – start around 50% and see how it feels.
- Cap loading at 70% max in the first week.
- Prioritise technique & execution rather than load
- Be patient take your time to build up back to where you were before lockdown
- Limit the amount of big, high skill compound exercises per session
- Focus more on simpler isolation movements at first
- 2-3 reps in reserve – avoid complete failure
- You can only train as much as you can recover from
- Body & nervous system isn’t primed and ready to go straight away, needs preparation before “normal” training resumes
- Think about your long term training goals and not just your current session
- Good chance to review gym practices before lockdown
- HAVE FUN! Gyms are back open, finally!
If you need help structuring your training for returning back to the gym. Online coaching with Andrew Stewart Fitness provides you with a full bespoke training programme and progressions to help you get back to and surpass where you were before lockdown.
If you would like more information or are interested in online coaching fill out an enquiry form on the homepage of our website or follow the link below to complete an enquiry form and book in a free consultation call.
