How to Get Back to Training After Lockdown?

The day has come to start running outside again after 30-40-50 days without doing so. The first recommendation is calmness, a lot of calmness and patience. But then… how do you get back to training after confinement?

We can distinguish two groups of people: those who haven’t been able to run on a treadmill, who might be in better shape and, above all, whose bodies haven’t stopped receiving impact with every stride; and those who haven’t been able to do continuous running and have only been able to do strength or aerobic work on a bike with a roller or elliptical.

Above all… Calm and patience!

Although the starting point won’t be the same, the general advice for both groups is the same… CALM, PATIENCE, and SLOWLY.

We can’t expect to start where we left off; it’s been too long without our joints, tendons, or abdominal muscles receiving the impact of every stride. This can only be fixed with time and patience.

Even if you have been able to run on a treadmill, you’ll notice it less, but asphalt is very harsh, more so than a treadmill, and you’ll feel it if you rush to regain your previous fitness level.

Also, it’s possible that we’ve gained a few extra kilos. So, not only will we expose our bodies again to the impact of running strides, but we’ll do so with more weight than before.
We have to think of it as starting to run again, reducing the training days compared to before confinement. There’s no need to rush; we will gradually increase the days and kilometers.

Resume healthy eating habits!

For now, little by little, fewer days, and above all, return to healthy eating habits that, along with resuming running, will help us maintain a weight close to what we had before. Therefore, resume healthy eating habits and reduce training days.

In the first days, forget about pace, times, and kilometers. What used to be easy or recovery pace days can now become very demanding days.
Forget everything you used to do or run; this is new, you’ve been inactive for a long time. It’s not a break between seasons; it’s more like recovering from a muscle tear that kept you off for two months.

Cross-training

As much as possible, and I know it can be tough after so many days locked up at home, alternate different workouts, commonly called cross-training.

You can alternate running days with days of using a roller, elliptical, or strength sessions. This gives the body a little break to assimilate running training and allows time to recover well between interval training sessions. This is one of the keys to how to get back to training after confinement.

If you have a pressotherapy machine like the Sizen 6+, you can help and speed up muscle recovery.

Stay well hydrated. The last times you went out running, it was cold, and your sweat level was much lower.
Now it’s much hotter, and your body hasn’t had a gradual acclimation to this temperature, which you might notice. If you combine dehydration with low fitness, the combination won’t be pleasant.

The key to how to get back to training after confinement is patience

In summary, the key word is patience. Doing things right now will save you from a very likely injury and a visit to the physiotherapist in a few weeks that will force you to stop again.
If you skip stages, it’s better to go slowly and regain the continuity we need. Fitness and good running sensations will return.

Don’t rush; give your body time to recover and assimilate the training that will help you improve with the help of sports pressotherapy.
Take care of your nutrition again, and in a few weeks, you’ll see your fitness improving without even noticing it.
By following these simple tips, the question that haunts you—how to get back to training after confinement?—will disappear from your mind.

Juan Pedro Mora is a popular runner and ambassador for pressotherapy machines (What is pressotherapy?) by Sizen.