How To Get Back To Game Fitness After A Year-Long Hiatus

May 12, 2021
By Rachel Gonzalez

So, 2020 put the entire planet through the wringer. Some socceristas got quaran-toned while others took the professional couch potato route to get through the tough times. No shame there, we all needed to do what was best for us to get through these challenging times. However, if you belong to the latter camp and it’s time to get back into soccer shape, we’ve got you covered.

Set Goals

One of the easiest and most dependable ways of getting back into the swing of things is to set goals. Setting a goal will give you guidelines to follow as you get to where you want to be. It is a healthy and effective way to chip away at progress without burning out. If you want your pre-COVID mile time back, start by going on a baseline run. Figure out where you are and how to get back to where you were. If ball-handling fell by the wayside during quarantine get yourself a hacky sack, a ball net, or just a wall to practice your volleys until you can get a dozen or more in a row.

Incorporate Exercise Into Your Daily Life

If you’ve been on lockdown like so many others, the odds are that your fitness routine has consisted of getting on and off the couch. But now you can use that to your advantage. There are tons of ways to incorporate exercise into even the most mundane activities. Before you sit back down on the couch, do ten squats and tricep dips, do a hollow body hold while you’re lying around to engage your core, do a crab walk or lunges to the microwave. Factor a little exercise into your daily life and you’ll be much more prepared when you head to practices or games.

Try Fitness Apps

There are tons of apps and programs out there to help people get back into the fitness game. Strava, Couch to 5k, Aaptiv, all have programs designed specifically to ease people back into running, strength training, flexibility, and more. These are developed by professionals who know exactly where to start to get people into game mode. Even after you’ve completed the program you’ll be able to access other classes to keep you motivated and expand on your fitness journey.

Get Your Team Together

We all went through 2020 together, which means you aren’t the only one who is feeling a bit out of shape. Get your team together for group runs or start a group chat to keep everyone pumped up. Making it a family affair can be beneficial in tons of different ways. If you make it a co-op mission you get to promote team building after a long hiatus, if you go the competition route you can stoke that feeling of being back in the game and the desire to come out on top. If you want to win together you have to train together, and we are in the midst of a huge comeback.

A year is a lot longer than it seems sometimes, and 2020 was one for the books. But it’s time to put that all behind us and focus on the endorphins again. There are tons of ways to get yourself back into the swing of fitness, feel free to share a few of your own with us. Socceristas gotta stick together!

Featured Image via Adobe Stock