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As every health and exercise professional knows, there is no such thing as a perfect client, one who shows up at the gym fired up to work hard, day in and day out, without fail. People take breaks from their fitness routines, both planned and unplanned, over the course of their lives, and accommodating those lapses is part of what makes someone successful over the long term.
The potential reasons for prolonged absences from a physically active lifestyle are endless, ranging from illness and injury to bad weather and lack of results. It is important to remember that, like all other elements of programming, these breaks—the reason and the duration—must be viewed on a case-by-case basis so you can provide your client with an individualized approach to making a safe and effective return to exercise.
Consider the following scenarios:
Tom is a 54-year-old avid mountain biker living in New England. For three or four months every year, he is unable to take part in his favorite activity and struggles to maintain his fitness level when the weather turns cold.
Tanya, a 33-year-old mother of two, takes part in four small-group training sessions per week at her gym, but has been absent for the past eight weeks after a nagging shoulder injury disrupted her routine.
Dylan is a 19-year-old college athlete and a devoted personal-training client. He missed three months of training after contracting mono and his fitness level has dropped considerably.
Mark is a 43-year-old lawyer who has been absent for about two months because he was overloaded at work and just couldn’t find time to get a workout in.
Finally, Randall, a 72-year-old retiree, is a relative newcomer to the fitness facility who stopped coming in about three weeks ago after becoming disillusioned with his lack of results.
These situations are all vastly different, from the individuals’ reasons for their absences to the duration of their downtime and the obstacles to a smooth return to a fitness routine.
In many cases, clients coming back from a prolonged break want to jump right back in where they left off. Unfortunately, few maxims hold as much truth in the fitness world as “use it or lose it.” It is up to you to determine the best course of action to get your client back on track and recommitted to the program.
The reversibility principle is one of four general training principles that all health and fitness professionals should know. Along with the principles of specificity, diminishing returns, and overload and progression, an understanding of reversibility is essential to developing the safest and most effective training programs or classes.
“The principle of reversibility is crucial to understand in exercise science,” explains Sabrena Jo, PhD, Senior Director of Science & Research and ACE Education. “Essentially, it means that the benefits gained from a consistent exercise program are not permanent. If training stops, those improvements will gradually diminish, potentially reverting to pre-training levels or even lower, meeting only the basic requirements of daily activity. This underscores the importance of maintaining regular physical activity to preserve fitness gains over time.”
This principle reinforces the importance of clients making true, ongoing lifestyle change rather than using training as a means of obtaining some short-term objective.
This question was investigated in a piece of ACE-sponsored research to help us better understand what clients are dealing with after a hiatus from their usual workout routine, no matter the cause. A return to the gym after time away can be difficult, but is that sluggishness they feel on the elliptical or weakness when lifting weights genuine and, if so, can it be quantified?
It’s clear that fitness fades over time—that is the basis of the reversibility principle—but how quickly, and by how much?
To answer these questions, researchers recruited 35 men and women between the ages of 22 and 77, all of whom were physically inactive. Various measures of health and physical fitness were conducted before the completion of an individualized 13-week exercise program based on the ACE IFT Model, which included both cardiorespiratory exercise and a resistance-training program. All participants saw significant improvements in a number of important health and fitness measures.
After the 13 weeks, the participants were divided into two groups. One group (the “train” group) trained for an additional four weeks, while the other (the “detrain” group) discontinued the program and did not perform any structured exercise for four weeks. Over the course of those four weeks, measurements were conducted to determine differences in how the two groups responded.
The major findings of this study were as follows:
In other words, the benefits of 13 weeks of hard work were simply gone after four weeks of no exercise. This included all measures of physical fitness—body-fat percentage, VO2max, bench press and leg press five-repetition maximum, and the sit-and-reach test.
And, perhaps a bit surprisingly, health-related improvements in systolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides were lost within one week of the cessation of training.
All of these findings highlight that consistency is perhaps the most important element of a physical activity and exercise program.
The first and most important question to ask any client coming back to training after a prolonged absence is “Why?” The answer should dictate all subsequent discussion and planning. For example, in lawyer Mark’s case, his time off was due to a simple lack of time. Therefore, no underlying illness or injury needs to be addressed upon his return. Same goes for Tom, the mountain biker, who probably just requires an indoor workout plan that keeps him fit during the winter so that he doesn’t struggle so much when he gets back on his bike in the spring.
For Tanya, who is coming back from a shoulder injury, a lot more questions need to be asked and answered. What was the extent of her injury? Where does she stand in the healing process and what are her limitations? Has she seen a doctor or physical therapist and what are their instructions? Similar questions must be asked of Dylan, who recently battled mono. How long was he sick? How much of his strength or cardio endurance has he lost? What is his current exercise capacity?
Finally, for Randall, who skipped a few weeks after getting frustrated with his lack of results, there are a host of other questions to be considered. What were his initial goals and should any of them be reconsidered? What can you change about his program to make it more interesting?
Clearly, one size never fits all.
“A return to physical activity after an extended break can really be quite complex,” says Lance Dalleck, PhD, professor of exercise and sport science at Western Colorado University. Depending on the person’s goals or performance objectives, there are countless things to keep in mind. “Consider an athlete who took six weeks off and now needs to gear up for competition,” says Dr. Dalleck. “If the person was quite active prior to the break—perhaps even near the threshold for overtraining—they might actually benefit from the time off.” Of course, that’s not going to be the case for most clients.
Dr. Dalleck reminds us of the importance of discussing a client’s training history, as a returning athlete is in a completely different situation than a previously sedentary person who worked out for only a few months and then got derailed. There are so many variables to work through, including the amount of time off, the extent of the detraining, the person’s history with exercise, the reason for the break and the age of the individual, that it can become overwhelming.
Pete McCall, owner of All About Fitness Education Solutions and author of Smarter Recovery: A Practical Guide to Maximizing Results, tries to simplify things. “These clients simply cannot pick up where they left off,” he says, “as this is a surefire recipe for injuries and setbacks. It’s important that you explain to them that by taking a break they removed the regular application of stress, so you will need an adaptation period to adjust to the demand again.”
Taking more than a few weeks off creates a detraining effect. For that reason, McCall suggests treating clients returning from extended breaks as if they are newcomers.
In an ideal situation, a client will know in advance when they will need to take an extended break. Clients who will experience disruptions to their routines because of work-related commitments or weather-related breaks from their favorite activities can typically see those issues on the horizon. Of course, clients who are injured or fall ill are not so lucky.
If a prolonged absence can be anticipated, there are some things a client can do to stave off the reversibility principle. They may not be able to completely avoid drops in their fitness levels, but they may be able to take steps to maintain previously acquired gains.
Clients should try to continue any nutrition plan as best they can. Eating right, and avoiding weight gain, can make a return to exercise considerably easier.
Encourage your clients to try to find (or make) time to sneak in short bouts of exercise during their day. For example, 10 or 15 minutes of body-weight exercise or fast walking will keep the muscles engaged. McCall suggests that clients, “Just do something!” Remember, some activity is always better than none, so have clients reduce their sedentary behaviors as much as possible.
Dr. Porcari reminds us that performing a resistance-training program once a week can help clients maintain a majority of previously made strength gains. When it comes to cardiorespiratory training, Dr. Porcari recommends focusing on intensity if your time is limited. Also, he says that trainers should teach their clients to “value the routine.” In other words, help them find time to maintain some element of their routine even when they’re “on a break.”
Dr. Dalleck echoes the idea of focusing on intensity, but extends it to include resistance training as well. “Periodically—once or twice a week—do a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) protocol,” he says, “as this can be effective at maintaining muscular strength, fitness and power.”
You may not have to begin with novice-level exercises as if the person had never worked out before, but you do want to start from scratch in terms of reassessing the client with movement screens and postural assessments. McCall recommends trainers and coaches revisit the ACE Integrated Fitness Training® (ACE IFT®) Model in the early sessions with these returning clients. For example, if you have a client who was in the Load/Speed Training phase, meaning that they were working with external loads during strength-training sessions, you may need to initially focus on establishing postural stability and kinetic chain mobility and incorporating the five primary movement patterns. That way, the client can relearn movements using their body weight without the added injury risk that comes with external loads.
Dr. Dalleck echoes this sentiment. “Tell clients to give themselves time,” he says. “A person who has been inactive for a period of time can move to full-volume, full-intensity workouts relatively smoothly if they’re careful at the outset.”
John Porcari, PhD, professor emeritus in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and member of the ACE Scientific Advisory Panel, feels that the main element to dial back is intensity, no matter if the client is an athlete, a fitness enthusiast or a relative newcomer. That said, duration and frequency must be scaled back as well, perhaps by 10 to 25%. “You must systematically increase time, distance and intensity,” says Dr. Porcari, “based on the responses of the individual.”
McCall stresses another element of training that is absolutely essential in this situation—the building and cultivating of a good rapport. Explain to your clients that breaks are an inevitable part of life, and that they need to have realistic expectations. “Tell clients that it’s not a failure,” he says. “Instead, assume them that, while fitness may not have been a priority for a little while, we can figure out how to make it a priority again.”
A client who stopped exercising because they perceived a lack of results or just got bored needs to be approached a bit differently than one who has been absent for a physiological reason such as an injury or illness. In this case, you may have to use motivational interviewing and active listening to get to the core of why they quick working out—and why they had started exercising in the first place. It is up to you to help these clients rediscover what made them walk through those gym doors for the first time and then set some new objectives that match their current expectations, needs and desires.
Another consideration involves the type of physical activity, as some types are quicker to show the effects of detraining and therefore slower to rebound than others. Dr. Porcari states that avoiding orthopedic injuries should be the primary consideration.
“When it comes to resistance training, clients must recondition their muscles, joints and tendons to the stresses of exercise if they are going to avoid overuse injuries,” says Dr. Porcari. Unfortunately, overuse injuries often manifest over time, such as in the case of plantar fasciitis or patellofemoral pain syndrome, which means clients might not necessarily know they are overdoing it until symptoms begin to arise.
The cardiorespiratory system is not as much of a concern as the musculoskeletal system. As Dr. Porcari puts it, “If you work out ‘too hard’ during a cardio session, you’re just going to be more tired than usual. You’re going to recover, and it’s not as though you’re going to damage your heart or lungs in any way.” On the other hand, according to Dr. Dalleck, the body’s ability to generate energy can down-regulate rather quickly with inactivity, but will also rebound quickly. For that reason, you still need to begin slowly when it comes to cardiorespiratory exercise. Ease off on the duration/distance and pace and let the client work back up to their pre-break fitness level.
Sport-specific training is a distinct form of exercise. When working with athletes who are trying to get back into “game shape,” it’s important to note that technique and skill will not generally be impacted by detraining, as sport skills are typically developed over years of practice. Still, you must treat athletes as you would any other client in terms of helping them progress back to their prior level of fitness. In other words, athletes, even great ones, are not immune to the reversibility principle.
Drs. Dalleck and Porcari both point out that there is scant research on the topic of reversibility and how to best ease someone back into their routine—and there is a clear reason for that. Every client has truly personalized reasons for taking a break, ranging from acute injury to simple lack of interest, and returns to the fitness facility with a number of other variables that must be carefully considered. Your job as a health and exercise professional is to examine why exercise became deprioritized in that person’s life and to help them to figure out how to get back on track. You can only do that by establishing rapport to examine the reasons for their lapse and then working together with the client to develop a new exercise program that is tailored to their current stage of readiness and fitness level. The initial goal should be to reestablish the habit and routine of being physically active.
Looking for more information on how to effectively communicate with your clients and help them get back to exercising regularly? Here are some great resources that also offer opportunities to earn the continuing education credits (CECs) you need to renew your certification.
ACE Behavior Change Specialist Program
This program will help you familiarize yourself with common obstacles to achieving healthy behavior change and teach you how to help clients find their own path to a more fulfilling lifestyle. You will learn strategies, such as motivational interviewing and setting SMART goals, to help clients increase energy, prevent disease and develop healthier habits.
ACE Mover Method: Empowering Clients through Behavior Change
In this webinar, you'll learn about the ACE Mover Method and the application of the ACE ABC Approach to better serve your health and fitness clients. Regardless of their stage of change, you will be able to support and guide clients along their behavior-change journey with an actionable, step-by-step process. You will use strategies that will not only help your clients be more successful but will also elevate you as a professional and improve your business.
Keeping Members Accountable and Engaged with Behavior Change Coaching
How do you attract members and keep them coming back for more? The secret is behavior change programming. By creating an inclusive culture that fosters effective behavior change, you can encourage program adherence and promote club loyalty among your members. In this course, you’ll learn how to implement behavior change programming within your staff onboarding and client sessions so you can spur member engagement and retention. Whether you are a club CEO, manager or exercise professional, this course can help your bottom line.
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