Back on Track.

What to do when you've fallen out of the exercise habit

If only more people could take the same approach to lapsing from exercise that a devout soap opera fan might take if he or she missed a few weeks of episodes. After what seems like an eternity away from your favorite daytime drama, you turn on the TV and within 15 minutes you're caught up.

Don't despair. Even the most dedicated gym rats can occasionally derail. You take a few days off during the holidays, give in to the temptations of the endless feast followed by a second round of homemade goodies. You nibble at what remains for the next 24 to 48 hours until you're totally uncomfortable and disgusted with yourself. Before you know it, a few missed workouts turn into a week's worth, which lingers into a month or more.

Of course, messing up your regular schedule (not to mention your waistline) isn't the only thing that keeps you from getting "back on track."

"Just as exercise can boost your spirits, missing a few workouts often has the opposite effect, sending you into a minor stupor," says Mike Gattone, a strength and conditioning consultant in Chicago. Once this happens, the thought of having to work out feels like getting a root canal. You can think of nothing but pain, soreness, and a struggle just to do a fraction of what you once did.

Well, newly appointed couch potatoes: take heart! Those first few days back may indeed feel like sitting in the dentist chair. But the good news is that it takes much longer to get out of shape than to get back into shape.

"It all depends on each individual and how fit you were to begin with. But on average, I have found that most of my clients lose muscle strength at about half the rate at which they gained it," says Gattone. So if you've been lifting weights for four months, it may take only two months for you to get back to your best form.

"One of the reasons is what's called muscle memory," "Gattone says. "Lifting weights adds strength by increasing muscle fibers and setting off neurological changes that allow the muscles to work more efficiently. When you stop training, the fibers decline and muscles shrink. But the neurological changes decrease more slowly, especially when you've been doing several sets of repetition." That makes it easier for the muscles to pick up where they left off.

According to Gattone, this also holds true for runners and other athletes who have built an aerobic base. If they took a few months off, they'd return to find they had lost 50 percent of their stamina and endurance. To them it may seem like a substantial reduction, but the layoff didn't wipe out all their previous work.

Even if you didn't completely fall off the exercise wagon, there may be times you simply need to cut back for a while. Some jobs have extremely busy periods: a CPA during tax season, or a landscaper in the spring and fall. Or you may be physically doing a home improvement project and don't have the time or energy to keep up with that and your workouts.

So do you just quit for so many months and then start from the beginning? Well, if you abandon exercise altogether, that would almost guarantee a loss in conditioning. "[But] you can cut back and still maintain your fitness for up to 12 weeks," suggests John Joyce, fitness director at Bally Total Fitness. Suppose you kept up a really good exercise routine of jogging or power walking four days a week for an hour, and you've been doing this for six straight months; then your busy period arrives.

"Instead of exercising for an hour four days a week, you can get by with an hour twice a week or a half hour four times a week. Once your busy period is over, you'll find that you either maintained what you had or lost very little," Joyce says.

You can use the same approach if an injury occurs. If, for example, you have a sprained ankle and it hurts to run or walk, don't just wait for your ankle to heal; keep up your fitness by swimming or doing nonweight-bearing floor exercises.

If you have to stop exercising completely for a while, it's a good idea to take it slowly when you start up again--no matter how fit you were when you stopped working out. Hitting it "full steam ahead" could leave you discouraged and injured. "Scaling back your intensity is probably more important than cutting your time," adds Gattone.

Think slow and steady. As long as you're gradually seeing improvement, you'll get back to your old form before you know it. Remember: it's not a race. And trying to do too much too soon to make up for lost time will most likely cost you time, since you'll be more prone to injuries.

Even if you have good intentions of starting an exercise routine, you may lose your drive after just a few weeks. One way to overcome this is to add a little pressure.

You may think that the last thing you need in your life is more pressure. But if you think back, a lot of what you've accomplished so far in life has been because of pressure. It may be that you focused on your studies a little harder because you knew a final exam was coming, all those little details were rapidly checked off the to-do list before your wedding day, or you finally got that room painted and furnished because the baby's due date was soon approaching.

"We tend to think of pressure as a negative obstacle, but if used properly, it can be a powerful driving force," says Joyce. For example, you can tell friends, family members, and coworkers about getting to a certain level by a certain date. It may be to gain or lose 20 pounds, or to run or walk 10 miles. This may give you the extra incentive you need.

Another way to utilize the power of pressure is to enter some type of competition. It may be a charity walk or run, or joining a team sport such as a weekend warrior basketball or softball team. You may find that the competition brings out the best in you and forces you not only to maintain your level of fitness, but perhaps to improve. This will also help you think of the big picture every time you step into the gym instead of thinking of each individual workout.

No matter how out of shape you've gotten, it's never too late to get started. Don't think about how you once looked at 18. Think about where you are right now and where you can be six months to a year from now. The time and effort you put into it will be rewarded many times over whenever you look in the mirror.

And whenever that workout train derails, another one is right behind. It's up to you to get on board.

Conrad Theodore writes on health topics from Lake Forest, Illinois.