Today is a day to be thankful for!
Not only have we survived ‘Hump Day’ (that 24 hour period when Millennials curl under a stone and wait for Tinder to ping them out of their FML state of mind); we’ve also battled through ‘Blue Monday’ and won!
That’s right, last Monday holds the undesirable accolade of ‘most miserable day of the year’. This was the day when people resigned themselves to the fact that ‘festive spirit’ was but a distance spectre who’s only parting gifts were a few extra kilos, a lighter bank balance and a lot of broken resolutions.
But those days are done now and there’s no way the mighty Thursday should be a day of resignation! Thursdays are the unsung heroes of the week, filled with the promise of the weekend to come.
So even if you spent Monday wracked with self-loathing for already failing in your 2016 quest for Aniston Arms, pull yourself together, stop moaning and start training with gusto.
If the fitness you gained in the first few weeks of this year has faltered under the menacing glare of mega Monday blues, shrug it off. Don’t let the fact that you were so much fitter last summer, dampen your motivation to get in great shape now.
The wonderful thing about fitness is that you neither lose it as quickly as you might expect, nor gain it back as slowly as you fear. Research has shown that if you start a training programme and take a few weeks off, you can quickly regain the fitness you lost and get back on track. A study of resistance training among previously untrained men found that those who took a three-week break in the middle of a 15-week bench press programme were able to complete the full schedule with similar strength levels to those who trained continuously throughout.*
There’s equally good news for cardio fitness. Whilst you might lose around 20 per cent of your initial fitness gains in the first few weeks off, studies have shown that you retain many of the benefits of taking up exercise for at least a few months after you stop.**
What’s more, if you reached a reasonable level of fitness but then took a few months break, it won’t take you as long to reach your peak as it took you to get there first time around.
All of this means that if you fell off the horse in the last few weeks, now is the time to get back on.
Don’t let this week be defined by Blue Monday, instead let Inspirational Thursday lead to Fit Friday and an absolutely Winning Weekend!
* Effects of periodic and continued resistance training on muscle CSA and strength in previously untrained men. Ogasawara R., Yasuda T., Sakamaki M., et al. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging, 2011 Sep;31(5):399-404.
** Ready, E. A.; Quinney, H. A., Alterations in anaerobic threshold as the result of endurance training and detraining. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 1982, 14 (4), 292-296.
