How To Get “Back Into Shape”

You can be in awesome shape at ANY age (Clarence Bass pictured at 70)

If you’re wondering, like a recent commenter, how to get back into shape — then this is the fastest, best way I know how to do it.

I got a recent comment:

“hi, i am 52 years old and i’ve worked out off and on for 30 yrs. i am still in reasonably good shape but i do have a layer of fat over my muscles that i’d love to get rid of. any suggestions?”

Now, normally I’d say RTFM because almost everything I’ve written about before should apply to this guy … but … there are some important things to remember when you want to get back into shape.

Here’s my top 4 tips …

1. You’re Not Gonna Be The Same

If you’ve been training “on and off” and you’re finally ready to step back into the gym, then you need to understand that you’ve probably lost a little bit of your “oomph” from before.

This is ok, and completely natural. So don’t worry about it. But definitely be aware of it. So if before you were benching 225 for reps don’t jump back in the gym … load the bar up … and get flattened like a pancake — then get pissed because you wonder why it’s not going up!

Same with your cardio work … probably one of the worst things you could do is take your “ex-track star” self back to the gym and decide to run a marathon the first day you go back to working out.

In essence, what I’m saying is …

2. Start Slow

Get back into the groove of things. I’ve always liked simple cycling systems when it comes to progressive overload and I feel the same way about re-starting exercise after some time off.

I would use the “3 steps” cycling method for getting back into the groove of things. Here’s how it works using the bench press example above.

• If the last time you were in the gym you were doing sets of 225 on the bench, you’ll take three steps back
• So in this case we’ll just assume it’s 3 “steps” of 10lb increases in weight. So load the bar up with 195.
• This should feel light. You should feel strong. The sets should go off without a hitch. If so good! If not, you may need to go back a couple of “steps”.
• Then the next workout (or next week depending on how strong you feel) go up a step (10lbs) … repeat the next week … and the week after that (by which point you’ve reached your “old” max set).
• Then take two steps back (20lbs down) and keep moving forward like that in a simple cycling system of 3 steps back 2 steps forward

You can use this same cycling system when getting back into other exercise activites too. Back when I did long distance running I used it to work up to running close to an hour (something I definitely don’t condone now) … I added 10 minutes of time each week or run, 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, etc …

Speaking of running …

3. Focus On the “HIGH ROI” Activities

When I say High ROI, I of course mean “High Return On Investment” activities meaning are you getting the maximum benefit from every second you’re spending back in the gym?

First, I’d focus on strength training because strength is the basis of all other skill sets. Building strength will give you the best bang for your buck overall.

Second, Because you’re 52 I’d pay special attention to trying to “keep” all the muscle you already have and even focus on building more muscle because you lose muscle as you age. But I’d do this through increasing the amount of “clean” calories I’m eating and focusing on getting stronger.

Lastly, I’d do interval training for “losing the layer of fat over my muscles” because it’s a High ROI activity and you can get it done quicker, it’s better for your heart, etc — there’s a ton of benefits.

4. Stick To It This Time!

The final thing is to just work the exercise back into your life permanently. You said you’ve been working out “off and on” for a long time … don’t do that … just pick a schedule you know you can stick to and do it.

There’s been some interesting studies, showing you can get a LOT of benefits from even doing strength training only once every 7 days! Especially as you get older, recovery time becomes  more and more important.

Clarence Bass from cbass.com is in his seventies and last I remember he does one strength training session every 7 days and one cardio session once every 7 days and he’s ripped as all hell so don’t think for a second you can’t do it too!

So that’s pretty much my top 4 tips for getting back into shape — hope it helps!