The idea of working out again after a hiatus of more than eight months is more like a psychological battle. For a fitness enthusiast who has spent more than a year working out diligently, researching for scientific and strategic ways in building muscle mass, and spending his money for gym enrollments and buying supplements; doing all these things on which he became accustomed before, it’s not that easy to come back.
The human body is like a vehicle. It needs a tune-up in the form of exercise. Once a person get used to an intense work out almost everyday then stops abruptly, muscular atrophy happens. Put in lay man’s term, muscle atrophy is simply a decrease in muscle mass. It can be partial or complete wasting away of muscle. In this condition, muscles become weaker because they are no longer used as intensely as before.
In as much as the physical drawbacks of being idle from the gym for a long time is its psychological impact. The fitness enthusiast who realizes that he is losing weight because he has not stepped onto a gym for a very long time also loses his drive to lift weights again, and more so, his confidence.
Unlike before, whereas he gets the entire attention and people look up to him, getting pieces of advice on how he has attained such Grecian physique, he suddenly becomes the normal lad, more like a beginner to be exact.
The feeling and reality of going back to zero is likened to a painful loss of the new person that the avid gym buff has long invested upon and taken care of.
Circumstances like going abroad to look for work but then going back empty-handed, or having work again but it restricts the time to workout, are just few unavoidable reasons for being out in the gym for a long time. At the same time, when the gym buff becomes idle, he losses his appetite to eat the right kinds of food on time, thus making his physique worse.
There are only two things however that can overcome this situation - time and money. But it would still be not easy. Yes, discipline is already there, the knowledge and anticipation, but the inner self feels anxious to do it. Getting back to work out, again, is a psychological battle. Intimidation will always be there, and getting tired as well. It takes a lot of courage to get back and more importantly, trusting one’s capability to do so.
I have done it before, but I was only idle (due to inevitable situations) for a month then, but this time it’s almost a year, and it’s very different. I guess the best thing to do right now is to believe in myself and take gather all the courage in me.
I know I can do it. Yes I can.
