How to Ease Back into Working Out with Weights

A recent question on returning to working out:

QUESTION:
I am going back to the gym on a full time basis after work and will have 5-11pm to reintroduce training to my body… I know it might be a little late in the day but I am committed to training like I used to be a few years back…

Anyway, I am not interested in going back to the same gym training I used to do… Bulk up as fast as possible, and look like a puffed up pigeon… I am now 33 years old and am looking for a new leaner and trained look… Not the stuffed bird look lol

So if I may ask… Can you give me a regimen of drills to work on? I would rather trust what you have to say than anyone else.

Now to be honest I have not worked out on a daily basis in a while… What I am afraid of is overworking the muscles and causing excessive muscle soreness the first few days and causing me to have excessively long periods of recovery… BTW, what would be the best way for me to start a daily workout without causing too much damage…?

ANSWER:
Yes, I can give you a regimen for easing back into working out. Here it is:
Before doing anything intense start with bodyweight exercises, such as pushups and Hindu squats. First day start with a low number of reps, i.e., such that you don’t feel the burn, and then, after 48 hours, if no soreness, do it again with up to 25% more reps. If no problem the next day after that, in following workouts keep increasing reps until you feel the burn. When a 100 military pushups and 200 Hindu squats will be easy, you will be ready for weights.

My answer to your second question, “What would be the best way for me to start a daily workout without causing too much damage?”:

To warm-up for bodyweight exercises, do a few reps of easy versions of these exercises. For example, do a dozen of Hindu pushups before doing long sets of military pushups. Then after the military pushups you will be warmed up enough any other bodyweight exercise. To warm-up for lifting weights, you may do a couple of bodyweight exercises at a low intensity, or just do a couple or a few sets of your lifts with light weights, paying attention to the perfect form. You may do both, low intensity bodyweight exercises followed by lifts with light weights.

To learn much more on strength training for martial arts, see articles at
stadion.com/strength-training-for-sports-and-martial-arts.