Back from holiday: how to pick up training and nutrition again
Ian van der Werf
10 August 2026Back from holiday and out of rhythm? Here is how to restart training and nutrition without an injury or a September slump: diary first, then three weeks of building up.
The suitcase is still half unpacked in the hallway and your diary fills up again on Monday. Three weeks of doing nothing, or at least nothing that resembled training. And then the question: where do you start?
What we see in the studio is nearly always the same. People come back with a clear head and pick straight up at their pre-summer pace. Two weeks later there is an irritated shoulder in the way, or the plan has stalled because the first busy working week rolled right over it. How you restart decides what your autumn looks like.
What three weeks off actually does to you
Less than you think. Strength and muscle mass hold up well over a few weeks off; your body does not undo in one holiday what you built over months. What does drop quickly is your endurance and your feel for technique. The first squat feels awkward, your heart rate climbs sooner and you recover more slowly between sets.
The scales are a poor adviser this week too. Body weight fluctuates mainly because of your fluid balance¹, and salty food, alcohol and hot days amplify that effect considerably. So do not step on them the day after you get home. Weigh yourself once a week at most, on the same day and at the same moment.
Start with your diary
Before you think about exercises, open your diary and fix when you train. Two slots you will definitely make in an ordinary working week are worth more than four that only exist on paper.
The Dutch activity guideline for adults is 150 minutes of moderately intensive exercise a week, spread over several days, plus muscle and bone strengthening activity twice a week.² That is the floor your body thrives on. Fill that in first. Ambition can follow.
Train deliberately below your level for two weeks
Start at roughly two thirds of what you did before the summer. Same exercises, less weight, fewer sets. Your tendons and nervous system need a few sessions to recognise that load again, while your muscles adapt faster. September injuries come out of exactly that gap.
- Week 1: two sessions, moderate weight, technique first.
- Week 2: the same two sessions, slightly heavier, slightly more volume.
- Week 3: back at your old level, and you build on from there.
Muscle soreness, by the way, is no measure of a good session. If you barely feel anything the next day, you dosed it sensibly.
Nutrition: restore your basics first
The urge to compensate for the holiday with a strict regime is strong, and that regime rarely survives more than ten days. Restore your basics instead: a steady eating rhythm, a protein source at every meal, vegetables with at least two meals a day and enough to drink. That alone brings your energy and your weight back close to where you left them within a fortnight.
If you notice you struggle to shift back down, with the wine that stayed on the Thursday and portions that crept up again, you usually have a habit problem rather than a knowledge problem. Another schedule will not fix that.
A real example from our practice
"A director who trains with us came back at the end of August after four weeks in Italy. She had competed at a high level for years and wanted to run her old programme straight away. We reversed the order: first two fixed training slots in her diary, blocked off ahead of everything else, and then three weeks of building up at seventy per cent. She found that frustratingly slow at first. By November she was training heavier than the year before, without a single week lost. What stayed with her most: that the order made the difference."
When you would rather not do this alone
Picking up the thread is rarely a matter of wanting it more. It is a matter of sequence: look honestly at where you are now, choose a rhythm that survives a busy autumn, and only then steer on results. That is how we work at de Werf, with physical training and nutrition & lifestyle in the same programme. If you run into the same September slump every year, this is the moment to go at it differently.
Ready to pick up the thread?
Book a no-obligation intake at de Werf in The Hague. We look at where you stand after the summer and build a rhythm that carries you through autumn.
Read also:
Our coaching in physical training and nutrition & lifestyle.
Sources:
¹ Netherlands Nutrition Centre - staying at a healthy weight
² RIVM - physical activity in the Netherlands
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Frequently asked questions about training and nutrition after your holiday
Answers to the questions we hear most often in August.
Allow about three weeks. Strength and muscle mass largely survive a few weeks off, while your conditioning and your feel for technique fade faster. Build up for two weeks at around two thirds of your old load and return to your normal level in week three.
Usually not as fat. Body weight fluctuates mainly through your fluid balance, and saltier food, alcohol and heat make you retain extra water. Wait a week after coming home before weighing yourself, then do it once a week at the same moment of the day.
No, and it backfires. Your tendons and nervous system adapt more slowly than your muscles, so an aggressive restart is what produces the classic September injury. Two sessions a week that you will actually make take you further than four ambitious ones.
In your first week back, before your diary fills up. Block two training slots before you schedule anything else. Waiting for a quieter moment is the main reason the thread never gets picked up again after summer.
Ready to pick up the thread?
Book a no-obligation intake at de Werf in The Hague. Together we look at where you stand after the summer and build a rhythm that carries you through autumn.
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