One of the biggest issues that people have found with getting back to their normal routine of exercise after lockdown is how far back they have gone on their progress. There's a couple of reasons for this, which I'll explain below and then what I think is the best way to build that routine back up again.
The main reason I believe people's fitness took a hit was because of the lack of activity that lockdown forced us into. Believe it or not but there isn't many steps you can take between your bed, sofa and kitchen table! With this, the difficulty of creating new home workouts with nothing but dumbbells and cans of beans and some very good Netflix series to watch during furlough, your activity level was probably very low over the whole day. Compare this to pre-lockdown where you would've had activity via walking between transport on your commute, walking around your office and the ability to go to a gym - you can see how much of a difference there is in how much you move. This is where your exercise routine was dropped, and trying to start again is one of the hardest things to do.
Another very real possibility of how your progress and routine was affected could have been down to your mental health. Anxiety, feeling panicked and also feeling hopeless are all emotions that have increased due to COVID-19, especially in populations of people aged 18-24. If you're struggling with your mental health then there is a very big chance you won't want to be running into a gym to go and do a workout. If you feel like this is you, you should be mindful about how to exercise in your comfort zone. Some good examples are to go for walks/runs around big open spaces, or finding a training partner to join you in exercise. It's all about being supportive and helping to improve your confidence and self-belief.
These two points are the biggest issues that lockdown has created, and are the main reasons why your progress may have taken such a U-turn (other than just general disinterest in exercise!). So now we have looked at a why your progress would have halted, now let's look at solutions.
There are a couple of simple ways to get the ball rolling again, and get you living your best life again. Firstly, reduce everything by 50% - the weights you are using, the amount of reps and sets you can do, potentially even the amount of exercises you can do. This is because the harsh reality is, you weren't where you was before lockdown. Cutting back the amount of work you do will reduce the risk of injury and also allowing for an easier entry back into exercise where you energy and body won't feel so beaten up. Also, consider the programme you're using, and consider simplifying it. For example, let's say that you used to do a push/pull/legs split. You could consider just doing three full body sessions a week. This will reduce the total amount of work you do on individual muscles, so they'll be able to recover quicker, and you'll be feeling ready for the next session a lot quicker than if you was spending a whole hour every week on just one muscle. Lastly, consider exercising outdoors. Training outdoors is proven to improve your mental health, plus it's a very cheap alternative to joining a gym!
These are three very simple ways to reduce the total load that you may have done pre-lockdown, but they're going to allow you to have an easier and smoother start to exercising again. Remember when you're starting again it's all about building up that routine, and getting yourself to be consistent. Let me know what you think of my comments!