By Dr. Paolo De Ciantis
It’s a new year and many of us who are active in exercise or sporting activities may have taken some time off during the recent holiday season in order to participate in office, family or friend parties and enjoy as much food and drink as possible! That being said, it’s great that we get back into the grind of our workout and training regiments. However, progression is key!
Empirical research informs us that after discontinuing an activity, 14 days is all we need to be officially “de-conditioned”. This is generally irregardless of how active we were in that particular activity or for how long. That being said, after 2 weeks, should you get right back into an activity at the same level of intensity and frequency, you may injure yourself! As such, we generally recommend a progressive return back into the sport or activity. I like to recommend the “Rule of 25”. Now, this rule will require you to perform some math, but it’ll be worth it in the end. I recommend that you start off with 25% of your previous level or intensity, frequency, weight, reps, sets or time of the target sport or activity. For example, if my activity was weight lifting and prior the holiday break I left off my bench press at 4 sets of 10 at 100 lbs, I will sart back up again with 1 set of 2 reps at 25 lbs. If there is no pain or problems, then the next time the activity is performed, add 25% of the previous level of intensity, sets, reps, time and weight etc. until you’re back to 100%. This will give your body time to adjust and re-condition itself back to the specific activity as well as minimize the risk of injury!