How Quickly Before We Become Unfit?

How long does it take to get UNfit?

Summer vacations, holidays and other changes to our normal routines can all derail a good fitness routine. Don’t get me wrong, a short break can actually have advantages to our body.  Furthermore, travel can afford us chances to cross-train with different exercise.

A study out of Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory shed a disturbing light on the effects of stopping your exercise program. Based on the experience of 55,000 runners, the researchers concluded we gain MORE weight when we stop exercising than we subsequently lose when we restart the same program. Let’s play out that scenario with an example:

You start running 2 miles, 3 times a week and end up losing 8lbs getting you in a better shape for your vacation.

Then you have a great beach vacation with a couple weeks of siting in lawn chairs, sipping cocktails and playing in the ocean.

It was a great trip, but when you step on the scale at home, you find you’ve regained the 8lbs.

You think, “No problem, I’ll start running again and that weight will be gone in a month”. 

Unfortunately, your optimistic thinking in this scenario is likely wrong. Research shows that after a break in exercise, most women did not start losing weight again until they were running 10 miles a week.  For men, it was 20 miles of running before they started losing weight after a break in their routine.

How long does it take to lose my muscle?

11 days.

We know from studies of people in hospital beds that muscle begins to atrophy (lose it’s shape and size) in 11 days. However, thankfully we don’t generally vacation/holiday in a hospital bed. The answer is a little more nuanced. Most people can go 14-21 days without setting foot in a weight room before muscle starts to shrink. The more conditioned you are (say you lift weights 5 times a week versus 2 times), you will be able to step away from a gym for longer without backsliding.

The good news is rebuilding muscle is A LOT EASIER than losing your yo-yo weight. 

Tips for avoiding getting unfit

• Train with Better Living virtually while you are out of town or otherwise unable to make it to your normal workout.
• Add shorter, more intense workouts when you are crunched for time and otherwise would skip a workout. Studies show this can be an effective way for maintaining fitness.
• Double your normal amount of training in the month leading up to your break so that you have increased conditioned. This will both make you more fit for your vacation AND reduce the risk of losing your gains.

We LOVE helping you customize your exercise to your health and fitness goals. Would you like us to evaluate your current fitness plan to see if is right for your goals? Email us  at office@betterlivingfitness.com with the Subject: Let’s evaluate my fitness plan.