For the first time in probably 2 or 3 years, I’ve taken an extended break from working out. I shouldn’t even call it a break at this point. I became lazy.
I haven’t exercised at all in a month and a half. No weight lifting. No jogging. Not even simple stretches or yoga. I’m extremely disappointed in myself. Every morning, I wake up and I’m disgusted that I won’t bring myself to go into the basement (my gym) to do a simple workout.
First let me explain how it happened. In early January, I caught the flu. As much as I wanted to lift weights, I wasn’t going to make my sickness worse. My body needed to fight off the flu, not spend time repairing my muscles. So I took a week and half off until I was all better.
I had planned on starting my routine back up the following Monday, but over the weekend, I started feeling dizzy and sort of nauseous. I thought it might have something to do with the cold and I figured it would work its way out of my system. It got worse and worse, so I went to the doctor, where I found out I got an ear infection from the cold. It was messing with my equilibrium and that’s why I was dizzy all the time. I can’t remember ever having an ear infection before so I was a little scared of the symptoms before finding out what the problem was.
Anyway, there went another week, for a total of about three weeks.
I hadn’t worked out for about at all during this time and I got used to sleeping in. I didn’t have the drive to work out anymore. I took 2 more weeks off, for no reason other than that I wanted to sleep longer.
I’ve noticed that I’ve been feeling a bit sluggish lately and working out in the morning has always given me tons of energy. It prepares me for the day ahead. I wasn’t feeling that way anymore so I knew I had to force myself to start working out again.
Yesterday, I had it in my head that I was finally going to start working out again. I think I was truly ready to get back into the gym this morning, because my internal clock woke me up at my normal training day time, 4:45am (I know, super-early). I was wide awake and ready to go.
It felt great!
Sadly, I lost some strength during that short amount of time I took off. I can still lift the same amount of weight I was lifting a month and a half ago, but I can’t do as many reps in the same amount of sets. 🙁
It sucks, but it’s a great reminder of how important it is to keep going and and to never stop. I’ve made a ton of progress in my lifts over the last 6 months and it’s all for nothing if I don’t continue putting in the work. I’m not going to let that happen. I feel so much better today and I’m determined to feel that way every day!
I am sorry that you had the flu~~
you sound like you were really pretty sick.
Your body just needed to rest a little bit to get you back in healthy mode. I have found that sometimes the little break is EXACTLY what I have needed to recharge and sometimes tweak my routine a bit.
I hope you are better soon!
Thanks for stopping by pokeydog 😀
I was pretty sick. It sucked. I’m doing great now and I’m back into my routine. I’m still working on getting back where I was before I got sick, but I’m getting there. I seem to have taken the biggest hit in my bench press and overhead press. Just gotta keep working at it. Slowly, but surely.