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If you’re getting back into the gym after some time home training or completely off, check out the Comeback Program. It’s free, and will cater to your specific situation quite well. You can download it for free HERE.

I considered putting it on the store of this website, for free, but that would still have required you to input payment and billing address information, so I decided against it.

Description

“Jumping back into training full force after an extended period of time off has been suggested to result in an increased injury risk in the scientific literature. Moreover, overdoing volume, intensity or frequency right off the bat won’t help you progress faster, and might even slow you down. This template tracks your recovery for you in order to ensure a smooth transition back into the gym.

If you’ve been struggling to train during the lockdown, but are now wanting to get back to the gym, this will help. This template will conform to your specific situation by taking into account whether you have been training during lockdown, how much volume you were doing, how heavy you were training and what exercises you would like to do.

No commitment either - this program is free, and I hope you’ll get some use out of it.”

I’ve thought of a few potential questions regarding the program already, so I thought I’d make a post about it. I’ll keep updating this post as I get more questions.

FAQ

Q: How many days a week is the program, and how long will it take me?

A: It’s 4 days a week, and will typically take between 30 and 120 minutes per session, depending on how much volume you benefit from.

Q: I’m mainly into powerlifting, but haven’t had access to a bar and plates during lockdown. Will this program work for me in transitioning back?

A: Yes, it will - especially if you have still been doing some lighter bodyweight work. Bodyweight training is of a lower intensity (% 1 Rep Max) than powerlifting training. Because you’ve been doing bodyweight training, you’ve probably maintained most of your muscle as well. Thus, your strength won’t actually have decreased that much, but your connective tissues will have deconditioned with regards to higher intensities.

For this reason, starting with higher rep ranges (perhaps 5-20) can be useful in slowly reintroducing higher intensities. The template will adjust for this. So, while the program is moreso geared towards someone interested in growing muscle, it’s just as useful for a powerlifter coming back from no heavy weights.

Q: I haven’t trained at all during this lockdown. Is this program appropriate for me?

A: I’d say so. The program first asks you whether you’ve been training during this lockdown. If you haven’t, it starts you off with very few sets, far from failure. Then, depending on how well you recover, it’ll slowly ramp up volume across 4 weeks. The increase in volume week to week will maximise muscle growth, while also serving the purpose of re-gaining lost conditioning necessary for normal training.

TL;DR: Yes it is! That’s precisely who I wrote it for.

Q: I’ve had a home gym during the lockdown, but want to go back to the gym. Is this program appropriate for me?

A: Yes! I wrote the template to accommodate for this as well. When setting it up, it will ask you how many sets you’d been doing during the lockdown and how heavy you’d been training. It will make you train at an appropriate level, roughly in line with what you’d been doing previously, except slowly transitioning you back to regular gym training, with more exercise variation and perhaps heavier loading.

TL;DR: Yes, it’s appropriate for you as well.