The Best Workouts For Your First Day Back After A Break

The Best Workouts For Your First Day Back After A Break

Is today the day you’re going to start working out more often? Or are you just getting back to what you used to do before all the holiday parties messed with your schedule? Either way, it’s time to get started. We’ve picked out six workouts that are perfect for your first (or second) day back.

Photo by Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ.

Remember, the golden rule of re-starting is to take it easy. Treat yourself like a beginner, and before you know it you’ll be back to your old routine without too much soreness or difficulty.

You probably have an idea of what kind of exercise you’d like to do, so just click on over to the one that works for you:

  • Bodyweight Exercises: Do this 15-minute workout from Darebee that requires zero equipment. Too short? Add this super simple workout to give yourself more time while keeping things easy for your first day.
  • Free Weights: Try this barbell workout from Men’s Fitness. It’s just deadlifts, front squats, chin-ups and overhead presses. Go lighter on the weight than you normally would, since it’s your first day and you don’t want to get sore enough to sabotage the following workout.
  • Gym Machines: This beginner workout from Bodybuilding.com uses nothing but machines, and is a great way to ease into a gym routine. Go ahead and do more sets if this looks too easy, but again, err on the lighter side your first day back.
  • Running, Cycling or the Elliptical: The progression run we did back during the Lifehacker Fitness Challenge is perfect for easing into a new challenge. All you’ll do is 3.5km easy, and 1.5km faster. Go by feel when deciding how hard to push it, and again, err on the easier side. If you’re on an elliptical machine or an indoor bike, think of this as 20 minutes easy and 10 minutes harder.
  • Dance Cardio: Tracy Anderson’s Cardio Dance for Beginners will get you moving and sweating without expecting you to master any super tricky moves.
  • Yoga: This Yoga Basics Workout with Kino MacGregor is aimed at beginners, so it’s a great way to start or re-start a yoga practice. It’s a shortish video at just 12 minutes, so if it leaves you wanting more, add the 17-minute Yoga for Better Energy with Jason Crandell.

There are plenty of other great options out there too, but if you haven’t chosen one already, grab the one that fits you best from this list and just do it. Remember, which workout you pick doesn’t matter as much as whether you make good on your promise to yourself to get a workout in.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments