Where And How Do I Start A Comeback?

In the simplest words, you just start.

I realize you’re here to read a legitimate article though, so let’s break it down. I have been on a comeback quest for about 9ish months, and I can say this is the most humbled I’ve ever been in my life. I was in competitive shape and very happy with how I looked and how I felt. As a type 1 diabetic, my numbers were managed, and I was hitting 2 a day 3-4 days a week.

So what happened?

I burnt out, and everything fell apart. I went through a significant number of life changes; I felt very alone (of my own accord), and, honestly, I just didn’t want to train anymore. I felt like other aspects of life were more important in this chapter of my life. I hadn't created a balance where I knew how to just pull back a little on training while remaining active for health at this point. So I quit training altogether. I would go bodybuilding, but any form of aerobic training was out the window.

So why did I start again?

This was twofold. The first was I started to notice my resting HR creeping up higher and higher. I was in the mid-60s while sleeping, and as someone who was in the 40s, this seemed like a bad sign. The second is that I decided to play rugby again, and about 8 weeks out, I was going to start a running program. Day 1 would be a mile for time, so I had something to program off of. Needless to say, the first 400 made me feel like I’d never run in my life. So that day, I decided it was time to return to CrossFit.

Day One

I had a few party tricks like muscle-ups, but I realized I had not trained inside Zone 3-5 of the HR zones at all. I finished my strength section of FLAGSHIP 2.0 with pretty good numbers. I got to the metcon, and this is when the wheels fell off. I was absolutely gassed 3 minutes into a 12 min piece. I went home so disappointed in myself. I told myself that day, though, I was going to stick this out for 6 months and see if I could fall back in love. I did.

The Kool-Aid tastes so sweet when you’re dying on the floor again. I will say this time around, though, I’m making a conscious effort to have fun with it again. This has been the key to my comeback. I allow myself to scale for intensity. I’m still feeling a push and feeling competitive, but at the end of the day, if I SHOW UP to the gym and I put in my top effort for the day, then I head home proud.

The key to any comeback is to be proud of your efforts. Those strength numbers will creep up, and that 2k row time will go down, I promise. Increase volume slowly, do your skill work, then focus on sleep and recovery. 

The biggest comeback mistake I see (and I made) is cranking it as I used to, and I promise you’ll either be too sore by day 3 to have a day 4, or you’ll be injured and back on the bench.

Key points

• Be proud
• Find your why
• Allow time
• Have fun
• Stay healthy