"As soon as you stop participating in regular activity, your body starts de-training," says Dr Lynn Millar, a physical therapy professor at Andrews University in the US. "But if you were fairly fit before the break, you'll bounce back quickly because your muscular patterns were more deeply etched." Here, tips for easing back into a fitness routine, whether you've been stagnant for two weeks or years.


All The Right Moves Workout

YOUR BREAK: 2 WEEKS
What happened: Luckily, not too much. Your loss of muscular strength means you can probably still do your standard sets of biceps curls, but you'll feel the burn earlier, says athletic trainer Gene Schafer. Your ticker's a bit slower, too. "You've lost some of your endurance because your heart has not been stimulated to be efficient," says Wayne Dart of Sydney training studio Everybody Fitness. "So if you were running 8km a day before the break, you might now feel the puff at the 7km mark instead of the end."

Get it back
You just need to make a few small tweaks to your routine to get back on track. ''''
Here's how:
Hit pause Allow for 10 extra seconds to recover between sets. "This will allow your heart rate, which isn't quite at its normal level, to lower enough to give you a better next set, with better technique," Schafer says. "So you'll be able to complete your routine and see results faster."

Focus on power muscles After a two-week break, your glutes and quads are still strong enough to tackle tough exercise, Dart says. "Squats, lunges and step-ups will set muscle fibres firing and rebuilding fast, without risking injury," he says. Working such a large muscle group will also get you back into a high kilojoule-burning mode. Run up a flight of steps (the longer the better) and at the top, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and squat until your knees reach 90 degrees. Do three reps and then walk back down the stairs. Do three sets of stairs and squats for the first three days of your return to exercise.

Go free Since you've lost some muscle but still have enough strength to stabilise what you have, use free weights instead of machines to work more muscle groups at once, Schafer says. If you feel a little flabby (your muscles might not be as tight now as they were before), do some extra sets of light, high-rep toning exercises for your arms and thighs: holding a 2 or 3kg dumbbell in each hand, with palms down, slowly raise your arms until they're parallel with the floor. Do three sets of 15 reps. For your thighs, do three sets of 15 lunges with a 2 or 3kg dumbbell in each hand.

Do music intervals Intervals will crank up your rate of return by requiring your body to adapt to different speeds. "You'll probably be returning at a slightly lower level of speed and endurance due to the two-week break, and intervals help your heart retrain faster than running at one steady pace," says Jim Rutberg, co-author of Training Tips For Cyclists And Triathletes (available from amazon.com). Use your MP3 player for music tempos (for our picks of the best workout tracks, see Tune in, tone up.)

After a 10-minute warm-up jog, run fast for one song and slow for the next one. Continue this for at least five songs, or listen to a radio station for 30 to 60 minutes, running at a medium pace during songs and alternating sprinting and walking through ads.

YOUR BREAK: 2 MONTHS

What happened The extra project you took on led not only to late-night pizza feasts, but also to a significant loss of your fitness base. "Your muscles haven't been fatigued lately, so your first workout may actually feel pretty good, but then your performance is going to go downhill fast," Rutberg says. Getting back on the cross trainer for 45 minutes is going to feel like climbing Mt Kosciuszko. "Your lungs are not as efficient at pumping oxygen to your blood, and your heart is not as efficient at pumping blood to your muscles," says Ann Trombley, a US Olympic mountain biker and physical therapist.

Get it back
You'll need to cut back on your old intensity and slowly build your fitness over the six-week period, which is actually the length of a solid strength-building cycle. Modifying your cardio and strength exercises will help you gradually ramp up your routine to where it was before you stopped working out. Schedule at least three workouts each week and revise your old plan like this:

Quarter it Do a quarter of the cardio you were doing before the break, which will help prevent overexertion yet still ease you back into shape, says Laura Keller, a physical therapist. "If you were previously cycling for two hours, ride for 30 to 45 minutes, three times a week, and increase by 15 minutes each week," she suggests.

Get with the band You're more likely to be sloppy and hurt yourself if you use free weights right away, Schafer says. "Resistance bands will help you quickly regain the strength you've lost without causing an injury." Work both your upper and lower body with skier pulls: shut the band into a door and step back until it just starts to pull. Squat facing the door, and as you lower your body, pull the band to your sides and behind you.

Push up your strength Because your pectoral and arm muscles are weaker, you're at much greater risk of injuring them, Dart says. On your first day back, do as many modified push-ups (with your knees on the floor) as you can. Do them three times a week, and when you can do 30, switch to military style (on your toes). If you can't do 30 military push-ups, finish the set with modified push-ups. This will help you build muscle quickly in a safe way. You're less likely to injure yourself doing a push-up than trying to manoeuvre weights.

Be partial The muscles on the insides of your knees might be weaker than the ones on the outsides, because your IT bands (the tendons on the outsides of your thighs) tighten with inactivity. As a result, you start using your muscles differently, says Dart. That puts you at risk of knee problems, especially if you jump back into regular squats. For the first two weeks, do partial squats by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and bending your knees to 45 degrees.

If you have been on a break for 2 years, check out the October 2008 issue of Women's Health.

The best exercises for every bit of your body.

All The Right Moves Workout

Choosing the best exercises isn't easy - especially when you've taken a hiatus.

So we consulted the experts to find the absolute best move for every key body part, from flabby arms to jiggly thighs. Done right, these nine moves will give you better tone and strength in just two weeks - and a whole new body in a couple of months. Best bit? The only equipment you'll need is a set of dumbbells and an exercise bench.

Have you been on a 'workout break'? Do you have any more advice on how to get your body back? Let us know: