Back to the gym after the holidays: how to get back to it without injury (and without plateauing)

August 28, 2026 Félix Daigle

Summer is over, so are the holidays, and it's time to get back to training. But be careful: picking up exactly where you left off can be a costly mistake, both in terms of results and injuries. Here's what you need to know before stepping back into the gym.

Your neural strength has de-trained faster than your muscles

The first thing to understand is that what is lost most quickly during a break is not your muscle mass, but your nervous system's ability to effectively recruit your muscle fibers.

In short: your body has somewhat "forgotten" how to efficiently activate your muscles to lift heavy. That's why it's recommended to start your first workouts with lighter loads than you used before your vacation. This allows your nervous system to gradually readjust and become fully functional again.

Allow time for your tendons and ligaments to keep up

Second essential point: your tendons and ligaments, which connect your muscles to your bones, also need to readapt to effort.

The problem is that the muscle may seem ready to resume previous intensity, but tendons and ligaments take longer to strengthen. If you restart too heavy, too fast, you risk causing small, avoidable injuries that could force you to stop again.

Muscle gains are like a deck of cards

Here's a simple analogy to understand why you shouldn't go all out from the first workout: muscle gains work like a deck of cards.

Each time you stimulate a new level of intensity, it's like drawing a new card: it gives you results. But if you play all your cards at once (by training too intensely too quickly after a break), you will certainly see quick results… but you will stagnate just as quickly, due to a lack of new cards to play afterwards.