The path to fitness is formidable. It’s not so much a destination as a perennial journey teeming with hits, misses, setbacks bounces backs and challenges. Cut yourself some slack because it’s human nature to take some time off.
But it turns out that it metaphorically takes a minute to become unfit and ages to get fit. Doing more than what your body is habituated to doing is a way to enhance its tolerance levels.
When we stop training, the loss in our fitness is based on various factors like the length of the break, age, and the types of fitness- like strength or cardiovascular fitness.
Highlights
- When we stop training, the loss in our fitness is based on various factors like the length of the break, age etc,
- The lack of stress on our heart and muscles causes the plasma and blood volume to dwindle by as much as 12% in these weeks,
- Muscle memory can help you get back to your workouts. Your muscle fibres have special cells that “remember” previous training movements.
If you are a marathon runner in your peak form, then you might run 10k (6.21 miles) in less than 50 minutes. You probably train five to six days a week clocking a total of 40 to 50 kilometres per week. Most importantly, it would have taken you years to build this level of fitness.
Imagine you stopped running and training entirely. Experts concur that you will start to lose your cardiorespiratory fitness within the first few week
The extent of the loss depends on whether you are a beginner or a highly trained individual. If one is new to exercise, the person is more likely to lose the progress in fitness with inactivity.
Cardiorespiratory fitness – indicated by a person’s VO2 max – the maximum amount of oxygen a person can take in, transport, and use during intense exercise).
It will witness a drop of around 10% in the first four weeks after you stop training. This rate of decline slows down in the long run.
Interestingly, if you are a highly trained athlete, you will see a sharp decline in VO2 max in the first four weeks but it would still be higher than that of an average person.
The downturn ultimately will flatten out. – The lack of stress on our heart and muscles causes the plasma and blood volume to dwindle by as much as 12% in these weeks.
For an average person, the consequent sharp descent in VO2 max can drag one back to the pre-training stages.
Diminished blood and plasma volume lead to less blood being pumped around the body, each heartbeat to the point at which the training had begun.
After two weeks of detraining or no working out, the number of muscle fibres is downsized by approximately 13%. Four weeks of inactivity resulted in a 20 percent decrease of VO2 max in endurance cyclists in a 1993 study.
Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Cardiorespiratory fitness – indicated by a person’s VO2 max – the maximum amount of oxygen a person can take in, transport, and use during intense exercise).
It will witness a drop of around 10% in the first four weeks after you stop training. This rate of decline slows down in the long run.
Interestingly, if you are a highly trained athlete, you will see a sharp decline in VO2 max in the first four weeks but it would still be higher than that of an average person.
The downturn ultimately will flatten out. – The lack of stress on our heart and muscles causes the plasma and blood volume to dwindle by as much as 12% in these weeks.
For an average person, the consequent sharp descent in VO2 max can drag one back to the pre-training stages.
Diminished blood and plasma volume lead to less blood being pumped around the body, each heartbeat to the point at which the training had begun.
After two weeks of detraining or no working out, the number of muscle fibres is downsized by approximately 13%. Four weeks of inactivity resulted in a 20 percent decrease of VO2 max in endurance cyclists in a 1993 study.
Strength Fitness
Research shows that if an average person stops training for 12 weeks, one would experience a significant slump – in the amount of weight that one can lift.
However, it is also shown that you can hold on to some of the strength you gained before you had stopped training.
Similar to the loss in your cardiorespiratory fitness, the loss in muscle strength largely is because you’re no longer putting your muscles under stress.
As with anything, practice makes perfect. When you’re not working your muscles, the inaction leads to an ebbing of muscle fibres. Fewer muscles are recruited during an activity thereby decreasing the strength in your muscles.
An average weight-trainer could experience a plunge in the overall size of the muscles and could find it harder to lift heavier weights.
The extent of the impact of inactivity is not as high on strength loss as on cardio loss and the effects of detraining are similar for both men and women.
Studies suggest that beginners have an edge in terms of retaining strength in the face of detraining (Ogasawara R. et al – 2011 & 2013).
Regaining Fitness
While it’s tough to foresee how long it would take one to regain their previous level of fitness, it probably won’t take as long to retrain to your previous peak condition. Avoid adopting a sedentary lifestyle.
Muscle memory can help you get back to your workouts. Your muscle fibres have special cells that “remember” previous training movements.
When you get back to working out after an extended respite, you are able to regain lost muscle quicker. Molecular memory of exercise lingers during periods of detraining (Marcus Moberg et al.).
Light, dynamic warmups, and some resistance training is recommended to regulate fitness loss.
Focus on easing back into your exercise regimen, slowly rebuilding your VO2 max and strength.
Patience, persistence, and moderate rest are key. Remember, not all is lost – you can regain your fitness. Detraining is just a small part of your entire fitness journey.
Conclusion
Every time you work out, you build a foundation of strength and even muscle endurance. This way your muscles literally remember what function they’re supposed to perform. If you take a break from working out, that is ok. Once you start again, your muscles will use muscle memory to get back slowly.
Disclaimer:The contents of this article are for general information and educational purposes only. It neither provides any medical advice nor intends to substitute professional medical opinion on the treatment, diagnosis, prevention or alleviation of any disease, disorder or disability. Always consult with your doctor or qualified healthcare professional about your health condition and/or concerns and before undertaking a new healthcare regimen including making any dietary or lifestyle changes.
References
- Two weeks of detraining reduces cardiopulmonary function and muscular fitness in endurance athletes
- Strength and skeletal muscle adaptations in heavy- resistance-trained women after detraining and retraining
- Exercise Induces Different Molecular Responses in Trained and Untrained Human Muscle
- Muscle Loss: How Long It Takes to Lose Strength and How to Prevent It
