Training guide
Whether you've had two weeks off or two years, you've kept more than you think. Strength holds up well through short breaks and fades slowly over months, fitness drops faster but comes back quickly, and the skill of your old lifts returns within weeks. What catches people out is going straight back to their old weights and sessions.
This guide covers what a break really costs, by how long you stopped; how hard to start, with a simple way to find your weights again; your first two weeks and how fast to build up; who should check with a GP first, and what to do after an illness, an injury, an operation or a baby; and how to make it stick this time.
Strength holds up best. Twenty trained young men lost no leg-press strength over 2 weeks off, and 14 young men who took 3 weeks off after every 6 weeks of training gained as much over 24 weeks as men who trained straight through. A review found that strength declines slowly and usually stays above untrained levels for very long periods.
In 7 trained endurance athletes, VO2 max (the most oxygen your body can use) fell 7% in 3 weeks and levelled off 16% lower by 8 weeks, still above untrained people. Muscle size was back to its starting point after 20 weeks off in one trial, and in older adults the loss of size was clear only after 31 to 52 weeks.
After 12 weeks off, older men had lost 5 to 15% of their strength and power, and got their one-rep max back in less than 8 weeks. Whether "muscle memory" in muscle cells makes muscle regrow faster is unsettled.
The UK guidelines call starting at low durations and intensities, and building up as your body adjusts, the safest way to progress. Find your weights again rather than using your old numbers, and make cardio more frequent and longer before you make it harder.
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In 1,228 people who'd had a heart attack, the risk in the hour after heavy exertion was 107 times usual in those who exercised less than once a week, against 2.4 times in those who exercised 5 or more times a week. The UK guidelines say the risk of serious harm from activity is very low.
The NHS says to speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time, or have medical conditions or concerns. After an illness, an injury, an operation or a birth, that guide's plan comes first.
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Speak to a GP first if you haven't exercised for some time, or if you have a medical condition or concerns. Get advice first, too, if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, have recently had a heart attack or an operation, or are pregnant or have recently given birth.
The risk is highest when someone who is usually inactive suddenly does hard exercise, and lowest in people who are active regularly: another reason to build up gradually. Problems are often preceded by warning signs, which is why the signs at the end of this guide matter.
Read the guide for your reason first: our exercising when you're ill guide has a step-by-step return after colds, flu and COVID-19, and our myocarditis guide covers chest symptoms after a virus. After an injury, use the matching pain guide; after an operation, your surgical team's plan; after a hernia repair, our hernia guide; after a birth, our postpartum guide and plan; after rhabdomyolysis, our rhabdomyolysis guide.
If a session after an illness leaves you unusually wiped out, rest for a day or two and drop back a stage; if it keeps happening, see a GP (our suggestion, from expert advice on returning after COVID-19).
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If you have ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome), NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) advises against general exercise programmes and programmes with fixed step-by-step increases, so don't follow this guide's build-up. Our ME/CFS guide explains why.
Most of these trials are small and in young adults, so the figures show the direction, not your exact loss.
Little or no loss of strength or muscle. Aerobic fitness starts to fall in trained people: VO2 max fell 7% over 3 weeks in trained endurance athletes.
Some strength is lost, but most is kept. Fitness falls further, then levels off: about 16% lower by 8 weeks in trained athletes. Across 21 studies in athletes, longer breaks cut VO2 max more than breaks of a month or less, and doing some exercise during the break weakened the losses.
Older men lost 5 to 15% of their strength and power over 12 weeks off. In 19 adults, muscle size was back to its starting point after 20 weeks off while strength stayed above it. Fitness gained recently can be lost completely.
Strength usually stays above where you first started. After 9 weeks of training and 31 weeks off, one-rep max fell 8% in young adults and 14% in adults aged 65 to 75. In older adults, muscle size fell clearly after 31 to 52 weeks off, while 6 women kept much of their muscle fibre size through 30 to 32 weeks off.
Partly. The skill of a lift comes back quickly. Muscle fibres kept the extra nuclei they had gained through 16 weeks off in 12 adults, but the trained arm didn't clearly regrow faster, and in another trial a trained leg didn't regrow faster than an untrained one. One small study in 7 to 8 young men found more growth on retraining. So strength comes back fast; whether muscle regrows faster is unsettled.
Ten days of bed rest cut leg strength by 13%, stair-climbing power by 14% and fitness by 12% in 11 healthy adults aged about 67. Coming back from an illness or a hospital stay needs a gentler start than an ordinary break.
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Across 103 studies, stopping training reduced strength and power, and the longer the break, the bigger the loss. The loss was larger in people over 65 and in people who had been inactive before.
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Two weeks off didn't reduce leg-press strength in 20 trained young men, and three 3-week breaks over 24 weeks didn't reduce muscle growth or strength gains in 14 young men. Both trials are small.
In 7 trained athletes, VO2 max fell 7% in 21 days and settled 16% lower by 56 days. Across 21 studies in athletes, breaks of a month or less reduced VO2 max (effect size minus 0.62), and longer breaks more (minus 1.42).
Older men needed less than 8 weeks of retraining to get back the one-rep max they had lost over 12 weeks off. After 31 weeks off, strength was still above where it started in young men and women and in older men.
Adults aged 65 to 75 lost more strength over 31 weeks off than young adults (14% against 8%), and kept their muscle size only with more training than younger adults needed. But in 15 trials of 787 people aged 60 and over, former exercisers still had better physical function than people who hadn't trained after breaks of 4 to 36 weeks; the certainty of this evidence was very low to moderate.
Muscle fibres kept extra nuclei through 16 weeks off, but regrowth wasn't clearly faster in that trial or in another; one study in 7 to 8 young men found more growth the second time. All three are small.
In 1,228 heart attack patients, heavy exertion raised the risk in the next hour about 6 times overall: 107 times in people who exercised less than once a week, and 2.4 times in those who exercised 5 or more times a week. The American Heart Association says heart events happen disproportionately in the least active people doing unaccustomed exercise. The absolute risk is very low.
The UK guidelines say harder exercise carries more risk of injury, especially in people who aren't used to it, and that starting low and building up as the body adjusts is the safest way to progress. The American College of Sports Medicine says exercise is safe for most people, and heart events are often preceded by warning signs.
After 16 weeks of training, one session a week kept strength for 32 weeks in 70 adults, and kept muscle size in younger but not older adults. A review found older people may need 2 sessions a week to keep muscle, and that keeping the effort high matters most.
The studies measure what a break costs, not how to restart. We found no trial of return rules after a break, so the starting points on this page are our editorial reading of the trials above.
Our editorial starting point, built on the detraining trials above and our plans' shared notes on starting weights and progression. No trial has tested return rules.
A holiday, a busy spell, or a cold that has fully gone: go back to your usual sessions. For the first one, use your usual weights with an extra rep or two to spare, and shorten any hard cardio.
Find your weights again with our plans' check rather than your old numbers: 2 sets of each move with 3 or 4 reps to spare for 2 weeks, then 3 sets stopping 2 or 3 reps short. Do cardio at a pace where you can talk but not sing, for shorter sessions than you used to. Expect your old weights within weeks rather than months.
Start as if you were new, with our beginner workout plan at home or the 4-week plan in a gym, and expect to move faster than a true beginner.
That guide's plan comes first, and start gentler than you would after an ordinary break: bed rest costs more strength, and faster, especially as you get older.
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Our editorial starting point, built on our plans' shared notes on starting weights and progression and the UK guidelines' advice to start low and build up.
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The movement on the figure: Dumbbell goblet squat
Pick a squat, a hinge, a push, a pull and a carry or core move. Our strength and balance workout, beginner home workout and first gym workout give the sets and reps; for your first 2 weeks back, do 2 sets of each with 3 or 4 reps to spare.
3D demoDumbbell goblet squatIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoSit to stand from a chairBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoDumbbell Romanian deadliftIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoIncline push-upBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoWall push-upBeginner · A wall
3D demoSupported single-arm dumbbell rowIntermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoBand rowBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoStep-upBeginner · A step
3D demoLeg pressBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoChest press machineBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoLat pulldownBeginner · A cable machine
3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment
3D demoFarmer's carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebellStart shorter and easier than you used to: a pace where you can talk but not sing. The recumbent bike and cross-trainer pages start at 10 to 20 minutes at a moderate effort, building towards 30. Make sessions more frequent, then longer, and only then harder.
3D demoTreadmill walkingBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoStationary cyclingBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoRecumbent exercise bikeBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoElliptical trainerBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoIndoor rowing (rowing machine)Beginner · Cardio machine
3D demoStair climbingIntermediate · A stepMake sessions more frequent first, then longer, then harder. Our exercising when you're ill guide uses about 10% at a time as a sports medicine rule of thumb; it hasn't been tested for ordinary breaks, so treat it as a rough guide.
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Two sessions a week for the first 2 weeks, then 2 or 3. Add reps until every set reaches the top of its range, then the smallest weight step (our plans' double progression).
Start with 10 to 20 minutes at a talk-but-not-sing pace, add about 5 minutes a session up to 30, and leave hard intervals until you've been back for about a month (our editorial starting point).
Most returners get their strength back within weeks, and fitness rose within 3 weeks of training in a small trial in older and younger men. Muscle takes months. Nobody can promise you a date, so compare yourself with your own log.
Going straight back to old weights and long sessions; doing every session flat out to catch up; adding a new hard class in week 1; skipping the warm-up; judging progress by soreness; and stopping again after one missed week (our suggestions).
Our strength and balance workout is written for anyone returning to training. The 10-minute starter suits a first session after a long or unwell break; the gym sessions come once your first 2 weeks are done.
Strength and balance in one session: squats, Romanian deadlifts, push-ups, rows, step-ups, back extensions, carries and single-leg balance.
45 minBeginner14 movesA wall, A dumbbellA gentle 20-minute beginner home workout with a chair, a wall and a band: sit-to-stands, wall push-ups, band rows, step-ups and dead bugs.
20 minBeginner11 movesA bench or box, A wallA 10-minute session for low-energy days: marching, sit-to-stands, wall push-ups, step-ups and bridges, then a short walk. Doing a little counts.
10 minBeginner7 movesA bench or box, A wallA gentle first gym workout: a bike warm-up, five machines for 2 easy sets each, a short core move and 10 minutes on the cross-trainer.
45 minBeginner11 movesCardio machine, Strength machineA 20-minute full-body dumbbell workout: two supersets of squats, rows, Romanian deadlifts and push-ups. Twice a week covers the minimum dose.
20 minBeginner8 movesA dumbbell, A bench or boxA beginner full-body gym workout: goblet squats, dumbbell bench press, lat pulldowns, Romanian deadlifts and dead bugs, with sets, reps and rest.
45 minBeginner12 movesCardio machine, A bandFull-body gym workout B: trap bar deadlifts, cable rows, seated dumbbell press, step-ups, leg curls, push-ups and a Pallof press.
50 minBeginner13 movesCardio machine, Other / check instructionsA 35-minute full-body strength workout with dumbbells: goblet squats, presses, rows, Romanian deadlifts and carries.
35 minIntermediate9 movesA band, A dumbbellA steady 30 to 45 minute cardio session at talk-but-not-sing pace: walk, cycle, row or cross-train, counting toward weekly activity guidelines.
40 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine, A wallA 40-minute walk alternating 3 minutes fast and 3 minutes easy, five times over: the interval walking tested in Japanese trials, built up from three rounds.
40 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine, A wallA first tour of the gym's cardio machines: a few minutes each on the bike, treadmill, cross-trainer and rower, set up safely, at a talk-but-not-sing pace.
40 minBeginner7 movesCardio machine, A wallA 10-minute warm-up for any workout: raise your heart rate, move each joint through its range, rehearse the main movements, then ramp up to your first lift.
10 minBeginner12 movesA wall, A bandThe 4-week plan, in a gym or at home, gives a structured first month back. After a year or more off, the beginner plan at home is a good start; the 2- and 3-day plans come next.
A 4-week workout plan for beginners and anyone coming back: three full-body sessions a week, gym or home, short walks, and what to do in week 5.
3 training days45 minBeginner2 days a weekYour first four weeks: two, then three short strength sessions a week at home plus walks, building gently to a full routine.
2 training days20 minBeginner3 days a weekA first gym plan for beginners: 3 days a week, starting on the machines, adding free weights and cardio, with what changes by week 12 and what comes next.
3 training days50 minBeginner2 days a weekTwo full-body strength sessions a week: the minimum that meets health guidelines, with every set, rep and rest, and an 8-week progression.
2 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekA 3-day workout plan: three full-body gym sessions a week, alternating workouts A and B, with sets, reps, rest and an 8-week progression.
3 training days45 minBeginner6 days a weekA free 8-week walking plan for beginners: build to 150 minutes of brisk walking a week, with intervals, hills and two short strength sessions.
6 training days40 minBeginner3 days a weekA 9-week beginner plan with the same walk-to-run shape as Couch to 5K: three run-walk sessions a week, from 1-minute jogs to 30 minutes of running.
3 training days35 minBeginner5 days a weekA postpartum workout plan from the first days after birth to running and lifting again, week by week, with a caesarean track and readiness checks.
5 training days25 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week plan for women over 40: three strength days, impact for bone, cardio and recovery through the perimenopause, in a gym or at home, with a 4-day option.
3 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekA 3-day strength plan for men over 40 with power and bone work, two cardio days and mobility, built on research on ageing muscle.
3 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week workout plan for men over 50: three strength days with power and balance work, cardio and recovery, at the gym or at home, with a 4-day option.
3 training days45 minBeginnerOlder adults lose strength and muscle a little faster during a break, and needed more training than younger adults to keep muscle afterwards. Keep at least two strength sessions a week once you're back, add balance work, and our guide to building muscle after 50 has more. The NHS asks adults over 65 to build up gradually from where they are.
The NHS says you can start more intense activity after your 6 to 8 week postnatal check if you feel able to. Our postpartum guide and plan take you through it, including after a caesarean.
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Start the same way as anyone else: what feels manageable, two short strength sessions and walking, cycling, swimming or the cross-trainer. Exercise screening asks about symptoms and health conditions, not body weight. Our weight-loss guide covers the food side.
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The UK guidelines say the benefits of activity outweigh the risks for most people with long-term conditions. Speak to your GP or care team first, and use our guide for your condition.
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If exercise or food has started to feel like a punishment or a compulsion, our eating disorders guide covers the signs and where to get help.
Set days, a set time and a written plan, a tick sheet and someone to go with. Missing one day didn't undo a habit in a study of everyday habits, and among 61,293 gym members, a small reward for coming back after a missed workout raised visits the most. Decide now that a missed session means going at the next planned time.
In 947 adults in three exercise trials, most people who dropped out did so before or while building up to the full programme, most often for lack of time. Build up gently, and keep a 10-minute version for busy days. Our motivation guide has the rest.
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One strength session a week at your usual effort kept strength for months in 70 adults, and older adults needed about two to keep their muscle. A few short cardio sessions with some brisk effort hold on to much of your fitness.
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise.
For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; severe difficulty breathing; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining, or comes with numbness or weakness, difficulty speaking or loss of vision. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Call NHS 111 or ask for an urgent GP appointment (in the US, your doctor or urgent care) for:
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Muscle pain far worse than the session explains, with dark, red or cola-coloured urine, needs medical help the same day, as our rhabdomyolysis guide explains. Dark urine isn't always there, so muscles far sorer, more swollen or weaker than the session explains still need the same-day check.
Our suggestion: our rhabdomyolysis guide says it usually follows a session that was too much, too fast or too new for the person doing it, and an old routine at old weights after months off can be exactly that, so start lighter than you think. In 136 people treated for it, most had been strength training.
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Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
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Stop straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, the NHS says, and contact 111 if your symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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A dull ache in your muscles for a day or two after something new is normal. Joint pain that's sharp, gets worse during a set or lingers into the next day means switching to the easier option, and seeing a GP or physiotherapist if it carries on (our plans' rule). Our muscle soreness guide has more.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
Same day (GP or NHS 111): back pain and you feel hot, cold, shivery or generally unwell, or severe pain that starts suddenly or is getting worse quickly.
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See a GP if pain spreading down a leg hasn't improved after a few weeks of home treatment, is getting worse or stops your normal activities. Sciatica on both sides, or weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, is a 999 call or a trip to A&E.
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See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
A pop or tearing at the front of the armpit or chest during a lift, followed by bruising into the chest or upper arm, a change in the shape of the chest or armpit, or weakness pushing, can be a torn chest tendon. Don't wait for it to settle: get help the same day from NHS 111 or an urgent treatment centre, as our pec strain guide explains.
A sudden pop at the front of the elbow during a heavy pull, with bruising, a gap at the front of the elbow or a bulge in the upper arm, can be a torn biceps tendon. Go to an urgent treatment centre or A&E (in the US, urgent care or the emergency department), and don't wait for it to settle: repair is best done within the first 2 to 3 weeks.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before heavy lifting or hard straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled, or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists. After a recent shoulder dislocation or shoulder surgery, follow our shoulder dislocation guide or your surgical team first.
After heart surgery through the breastbone, or a heart or lung transplant, follow your surgeon's advice before pushing, pulling or lifting with your arms.
Trained men lost no leg-press strength over 2 weeks off, 3-week breaks didn't reduce 6-month gains, and strength usually stays above untrained levels for very long periods.
Strength and skill come back fast, within 8 weeks after 12 weeks off in older men, but faster regrowth of muscle hasn't been shown consistently.
Losses grow with the length of the break, and unaccustomed hard effort is when heart events cluster and injury risk rises. After more than a few weeks off, start lighter and build up.
After months off, strength is usually still above where you first started, and older adults who had trained kept better physical function than people who hadn't.
Most people who drop out of exercise programmes do so while building up to the full dose. Build one thing at a time instead.
Start below where you left off and build up: find your weights again with a set you could lift 10 to 12 times, do 2 sets with 3 or 4 reps to spare for 2 weeks, and keep cardio at a pace where you can talk. Then add sessions, then time, then effort. The UK guidelines call starting low and building up the safest way to progress.
Longer than most people fear. Strength held up over 2 weeks off in trained men, and muscle size was back to its starting point after about 20 weeks off in one trial. In older adults, a clear loss showed only after 31 to 52 weeks.
Aerobic fitness fades faster than strength: in trained athletes, VO2 max fell 7% in 3 weeks and about 16% by 8 weeks, then levelled off above untrained levels. Keeping a few brisk sessions going during a busy spell holds on to much of it.
Partly. Strength and the skill of your lifts come back quickly, and trained muscle keeps extra nuclei for months. But trials haven't clearly shown that muscle regrows faster the second time.
It depends on how fit you were and why you stopped, so nobody can give you a date. Most strength comes back within weeks of steady training, fitness starts rising within about 3 weeks, and muscle takes months. After a year or more, start as a beginner and expect to progress faster than one.
Not after more than about 3 weeks off. Use our plans' starting-weight check and expect to be lighter at first; older men got their one-rep max back in under 8 weeks after 12 weeks off.
The NHS suggests speaking to a GP first if you haven't exercised for some time, or have a medical condition or concerns. Most people starting with walking or light activity don't need a check-up, but after an illness, an injury, an operation or a birth, follow that guide or your team first.
The risk of serious problems is very low, but it is highest when someone who rarely exercises suddenly does something very hard. That's the reason to build up over a few weeks.
Do less than you think in your first sessions: 2 sets of familiar moves, stopping with 3 or 4 reps to spare. A dull ache for a day or two is normal and fades as you repeat the moves; muscles far sorer or weaker than the session explains, or dark pee, need checking the same day.
Plan 2 or 3 short full-body sessions for the first fortnight, use the machines if they help you find your weights quickly, and book the days into your week. Our first gym workout and 4-week plan set it out.
The same way as anyone else: start with what feels manageable, such as walking, cycling, swimming or the cross-trainer, plus two short strength sessions. Exercise screening asks about symptoms and conditions, not body weight, and our weight-loss guide covers the food side.
Set days and times, a written plan, a tick sheet and someone to go with, and decide now that a missed session means going at the next planned time. Most people who drop out do so in the first 2 to 3 months, so build up gently; our motivation guide has the rest.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
