How to Get Back Into an Exercise Routine (Part 4)
Blog by- Maxime Fecteau, Level 1 Student
Hey everybody! Back this week with some pretty good news to report. As I explained in previous posts, this return to a progressive training program, and to the gym room, is not an easy one due to the chronic pain and neurological symptoms I live with. In hopes of having the habit of training on a regular basis stick, I made sure to go about it very progressively, because I knew that going too fast or over-exerting myself would cause me to drop the whole thing pretty quick (the brain has a way of registering a difficult experience—say, walking out of the gym dizzy and nauseous—and making sure you never again think it was a good idea to go to the gym, haha!). Well, I’m now three weeks into full workouts (as laid out by Alex on his online platform) three times/week. Two things have been very helpful in keeping the momentum going:
Breathing exercises (check out the Wim Hof method, if you’re interested) and neck stretches prior to the workouts (remember the Iron Neck equipment I mentioned last time?). This is proving very helpful in priming my nervous system for exercise and reducing pain by loosening up the body before exerting it.
Making sure I stay, in terms of weights, just in the perfect zone (“not too easy, not too hard,” if you will) where a certain challenge is maintained but where I can also feel like I’m making progress. This may seem basic to any training, but when you haven’t been in the gym room in a while, I see now how easy it is to set the targets too high and end up dropping the habit because of early struggles. The lowdown here, I guess is: keep it fun! (And a fun game, it seems to me, is one during which you’re challenged, but also one which allows you to rise to the occasion and feel, in the end, more and more skillful...)
Take it easy!