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Start Running Again After a Break.

If your anything like the rest of us you have at some point in your life taken some time off from running and working out. Some of you have probably even never ran or worked out in your life. Taking time off from working out can actually be a good thing; If you get injured or if you go on vacation or for some reason take time off remember it’s not taking the time off you have to worry about it’s getting back to running and working out that is the key to staying in good health. This may seem like a simple idea however many people get into good routines and then after a little time off never get back into them.

If you are injured and can’t run you should diffidently seek medical attention. When meeting with your doctor, he or she should give you a timeline of when you can return from your injury. Think of yourself as a professional athlete. When a professional get hurts they create a timeline to when they will return. Write down your return date. Set an alarm on your phone from the day before to remind yourself you will be running the next day. Simple tricks like this will help you get back on the workout train.
If you go on vacation or if it’s just a crazy time at work or with family make sure to set a “come back date”. This is the day you intend to start running or working out again. Remember, when working out you may plateau and stop seeing results. Sometime a little time off is all you need to get over the hump. Make sure to write your “come back date” on the calendar, put it in your phone, and make sure to set an alarm for the day of running and the day before to prepare yourself mentally for your run or workout.

If you only skip or miss a few days, you shouldn’t have a problem getting right back into your training plan.  If you miss an extended period of time or longer than a week check out a few guidelines to get you back in the swing of things.

Know that you won’t feel the same as you did before the break.


Your body has changed; not working out in a while is going to set you back. This is okay but to reduce the risk of injury know that you probably won’t be able to go as hard, fast and long as you did before. You probably won’t have to start at the very beginning, but you will have to adjust for it.

“Anybody can be a runner. We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It’s the easiest sport.” — Bill Rodgers

It’s important that in your first workouts run based on how you feel rather than trying to hit a specific pace, time or speed.  Don’t worry you’ll soon be back running like you were before, but rushing back can cause a setback so time your time and be smart.

Build back up mileage gradually. 

Most runners measure their work in how far they run. The truth is you should measure on if you got a great cardio workout in or not. If you take two weeks off or more come back to running about 50% of what you we’re running before you took the break. Stay at this level for a week and then move to around 75% of what you were doing before the break. After a week at this level you should be back to where you were before the break. If you take four weeks off double the amount of time you spend at each level; (50% for 2 weeks and then 75% for 2 weeks as well).

Control your intensity.

As important as it is to limit how far you run it’s just as important to control your intensity level when you return as well. It’s important to make sure that your body is ready before getting to intense. Make sure you get in a great pre-workout stretch when you come back from a break.   A great rule to follow is to get your mileage back up to pre-break levels before beginning any speed work. The same formula will help you with your intensity levels. If you missed four hard workouts, your first two workouts back would be 50% of your normal workout, your next two would be 75% and then you can proceed from there.

By following these simple guidelines, you should have no problem starting to run again after you took a break, Remember breaks may be beneficial and are not a bad thing. If you can run, do today!

If you have other tips and tricks that have worked for you, make sure to share them with me on Tiwtter. Tweet me @FunFitnessFrank. Have some fun working out everyone. Run Fast, Run Far, Run for yourself.