Getting back into training or: how unfit I actually am

This isn’t a training guide.
It’s not a comeback story.
And it’s definitely not me pretending I’ve got my life sorted.

This is a public training diary.

Partly because writing things down helps me stay accountable.
Mostly because if other people know I’m meant to be training,
I’m far less likely to bail when I’m tired, busy, or suddenly “too sore”.

Consider this my version of external pressure.

Yes, I used AI to build the plan

Before anyone asks, no, I didn’t just jump back in and hope for the best.

I used AI to help structure my return-to-training plan.

Not in a “tell me what to do and I’ll blindly follow it” way, but as a way to remove emotion from decision-making.

When you’ve been unfit for a while, your judgement is terrible.
You either do too much, or you talk yourself into doing nothing.

The plan exists for one reason:
to tell me when to stop, not when to push.

Think of it less as AI coaching, and more as AI babysitting.

I didn’t just get “a bit unfit”, I got properly weak

I’ll say it straight.

I didn’t just lose fitness. I got weak.

For the past two years, exercise hasn’t existed in my life.
Not less exercise.
Not “I’ve been busy”.

Just… none at all.

And the body keeps receipts.

• Lower back pain I’d never had before

• Occasional nerve-type symptoms down the leg

• Everything feels stiff, heavy, and unreliable

Which is awkward, because I spend my days telling clients they need to move more.

Honestly, it’s a bit humbling.
Hard to preach movement when your own body creaks getting off a chair.

Yes, my breathing is fine… until it absolutely isn’t

People keep asking, “But your cardio would still be alright, yeah?”

Short answer: only at very low intensity.

At genuinely easy effort, breathing’s controlled, heart rate behaves.
Step over that line and it all falls apart quickly.

Heart rate spikes.
Breathing turns aggressive.
Brain starts suggesting we wrap this up early.

Right now, I don’t have a fitness range.
I’ve got one narrow safe zone, and everything outside it is chaos.

Two sessions in and the fatigue already shocked me

I’ve done two sessions so far. Just two.

And honestly, I underestimated the fatigue.

• Perineum sore from the saddle

• Legs feeling tight and cranky

• Gastroc and soleus fatigue way higher than expected

This wasn’t hero training. This was “surely this should be manageable” training.

Turns out… not yet.

Not a mindset issue. Just tissues that haven’t seen load in a long time.

This time, I’m managing fatigue, not chasing fitness

Old me would’ve pushed through.

Current me knows better.

The goal right now is simple:

Finish sessions without stealing energy from tomorrow.

Not chasing numbers.
Not feeding the ego.
Not proving anything.

Just:

• Can I work a full day without feeling cooked?

• Can I train again without dreading it?

• Can my body start trusting movement again?

That’s the win.

Why I’m writing this publicly

This series isn’t about performance.

It’s about:

• rebuilding fitness while working full-time

• managing fatigue like an adult

• figuring out how much training actually fits into real life

Writing this publicly removes the escape hatch.
If I say I’m doing it, I have to follow through.

Where this series is heading

Over the next few posts, I’ll document:

• what detraining really feels like

• where fatigue shows up first (spoiler: calves and back)

• what AI is actually useful for and what it isn’t

Sometimes it’ll be about cycling. Sometimes it’ll just be about bodies.

This isn’t a training series.
It’s a record of learning how to move again without breaking myself.

And yes, I’ll keep posting, so I can’t quietly disappear.