Vacation, illness, financial difficulties, business trip to the end of the world – whatever the reasons for the break, long weeks without the gym will reduce your performance. But don’t be discouraged: the physical form does not go away so quickly. In addition, it is in your power to keep it without access to the gym and quickly return to the previous indicators.
How fast do you lose power
During the first 3-4 weeks without strength training, you can not worry about the break. And at newcomersand experienced athletes muscle strength remains the same. But you can notice a decrease in muscle volume already after two weeks without stress. However, when you do this, you are not losing protein, but water.
When you exercise, your muscles increase the storage of glycogen, a fast fuel from glucose. It binds water, due to which the muscles look more voluminous. When you stop exercising, you lose glycogenand with it the accumulated liquid, causing the muscles to “deflate”. But when you resume training, glycogen stores replenish and your reliefs will return to the previous level.
Even if the time without exercise drags on, getting back in shape will not be so difficult: when your muscles grow, they increase the amount myonucleus. And after the cessation of training, the volume goes away, but the core remain.
Therefore, by resuming classes, you will build up the old muscles much faster than absolute beginners will achieve the same result.
What’s more, taking a break from training can even be beneficial. The body adapts to regular power loads, and over time, the response to anabolic signals declining. A three-week break can reduce adaptation and increase anabolic levels. hormonesso that when you return to normal, the muscles will grow faster.
What to do with it
To maintain strength performance for 8-12 weeks without training, it is enough study once a week and perform only third from the previous load. You can very well maintain the desired level by exercising at home on a horizontal bar, with dumbbells or elastic bands. These compact shells will provide a load on all muscle groups and help maintain strength.
If you can’t buy dumbbells and resistance bands, do exercises with your own body weight. This will help maintain muscle mass until the moment when you get access to the gym again.
Experienced athletes are advised to perform more eccentric movements, since such loads help maintain strength for longer. These are any exercises with a prolonged eccentric phase, in which the muscles are under load in a stretched position. For example, in a squat, this is lowering into a squat, and in a pull-up, it is a return to the hang.
How long does it take to lose stamina
Unlike strength, stamina drains faster. The fact is that after 4 weeks without training declining blood plasma volume. And the less plasma, the more viscous the blood becomes, which slows down the transfer of oxygen to the tissues of the body.
The maximum oxygen consumption (MOC) is also rapidly decreasing – the amount that the body is able to use. Already after a week and a half without loads of the IPC falls by 7%, although in the future the decline slows down and reaches 15% only by the third month without training.
Can you do without cardio lose 4 to 25% endurance in 3-4 weeks.
And if experienced athletes lose from 6 to 20% IPC for a month without loads, then beginners roll back to the initial level during the same time.
What to do with it
Aerobic work is not necessarily running, cycling and other types of cyclic cardio. You can very well accelerate the pulse at home, performing sessions of light exercises.
Moreover, you can do them both in the format of continuous work at a pulse of 130-160 beats per minute, and in the form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) – this is when periods of maximum intensity alternate with rest or calm exercises.
This kind of training pumps heart work, increases MIC and improves the aerobic capacity of the body.
Also, to maintain endurance, you can use exercises with your body weight. Several research confirm that such power loads have a positive effect on both the MPC and endurance in general.
How to quickly accumulate extra pounds
Stopping exercising will cut your energy expenditure and may slow down resting metabolism. If at the same time you consume the same or more calories than usual, you can build up extra fat stores, mainly in the waist area.
What to do with it
You may well keep the weight off if you change your diet in time for a new level of energy expenditure and add physical activity. Short but intense HIIT workouts are good for staying in shape.
They help you burn more calories increase metabolism at rest due to oxygen debt. If this format doesn’t appeal to you, try long, moderate-intensity aerobic sessions, which are also good for burning calories.
Don’t quit training. Practice in your hotel room and outside if weather permits. Run, push ups, pull ups and try new moves with your body weight and available furniture.
And remember that a short break will not put an end to your performance: you will quickly return to form as soon as you start exercising again.