Admit it, you haven’t seen the inside of a gym since the last time leg warmers were in fashion. And just the thought of exercising again gets your heart rate up. It’s really a viscous cycle: you get injured or busy or some other life interruption occurs, and you take some time off from exercising, then some more time, and the next thing you know you haven’t exercised in ages. You’ve lost muscle tone, you’ve gained weight, and you’re lethargic and feel too embarrassed and intimated to start working out again. So you do nothing. And then you lose more muscle tone, gain more weight and are even more intimated. But you can stop the cycle. You can get back to working out no matter long your exercise break has been. Sure you’ll be tired and sore, and it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

Before you begin exercising again, get a medical check up. It may seem unnecessary but your doctor may uncover an underlying reason for your initial exercise hiatus, such as unknown injury. But better yet, a trip to the doctor may yield additional motivation for becoming fit and losing weight.


Once you get the ok from your health care provider start off slow. The last thing you want to do is jump into a hard-core boot camp when you haven’t exercised in years. Talk to a trainer about setting up a program designed to your current fitness level with goals and progressions in place as you become more and more fit. If you can’t afford to go to a gym, or prefer to exercise outdoors, then just start walking. After a few weeks of walking, add bouts of running. Before you know it, you’ll probably be running more than walking. Look online, there are loads of great resources to help you design your fitness regime.

Remember that you will most likely be sore when starting out, that’s a good. That’s your body adjusting to the new activity and building new muscle. Just remember to keep moving. If you’re very sore the day after a hard workout, be sure to do some type of exercise. While you do need rest days, you don’t want to be completely idle. Trust me, you’ll only end up more sore the following day.

Take this starting over opportunity to try something new. Maybe you stopped exercising before because you got bored of walking on a treadmill. Don’t give yourself a chance to get bored, keep your workouts fresh by trying swimming, bicycling, rock climbing, salsa dancing…the options are endless!

Another good motivator to get and keep you working out after a long break is music. There is nothing like hearing your favorite songs to make the time fly by as you're working out. Studies have show that music can push you to work harder and exercise longer.

Finally, make exercise a habit again. Tell yourself you are going to do some type of exercise every day for thirty days straight. Chances are, after that month you will begin to crave it and you’ll actually feel bad if you haven’t gotten a chance workout.

Whether it’s been a month or a year (or longer) since your last workout you can always come back. You may have to start slow and it may take some time to get to your previous fitness level, but you will get there. And don’t worry; no one really wears the leg warmers anymore.

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