Loss of Fitness

[Raewyn]

After having a break from MA over the christmas period, I have started back again. Have been finding it difficult to get back into training again. Things that used to be easy, I am having difficulty with. Does it take much to loose your fittness?, is there a specific time period that you could take off before your fitness starts to fall? or does it depend on the individual and how fit they were to start with?

 

[terryl965]

Like any well condition athlete, a couple of months off will defently put you at a dis-advantage.
Take your time and it will come back, just like riding a bike.
Terry

 

[TigerWoman]

Its funny, if I pass a week of not doing anything, I get antsy and just have to exercise. But after two weeks of idle, I start losing the desire, the sediments start to set in. That's my limit, if I don't get up and do a sweaty workout, it tends to get reaal difficult to get back. And I do lose fitness. They say, well I am sure I read is somewhere, that for every week you go it's like twice the time to regain your fitness level. A month out, probably at least 2-3 months to get back where you left and with regular workouts. And I would just hate to lose my pushup count, it never gets easy doing those!

Just start easy and build, it will be soon that your muscles remember where they are and what they were doin' Besides, exercise will make you feel better too. TW

 

[theletch1]

After I had my back injury I was down and out for about 2 or 3 months from anything more than a slow crawl. My fitness was back fairly quickly once I was able to get moving again but, man, did I have to push it. My back still slows me up after over a year but overall I'm in better shape now than I was when I left boot camp at age 18 (I'm 35 now). I'm going to an accupunturist this coming friday to see if she can take care of the last vestiges of the back problem and if that works I should be in a great position. To answer your specific questions though...it really depends on the initial fitness and the individual as to the amount of time off and time to get back into shape. Just keep plugging away at it and you'll be back in no time.

 

[still learning]

Hello, Our muscles will decrease when we do not use them...part of the natural process of life. That is why weight lifters must keep on lifting and increaseing the weights to grow bigger.

As martial artist we need to keep up our training on a daily basis or we will have some loss.

There seems to be alot of studies saying most people need at least 30 minutes, 3 times a week of some form of excercise to maintain weight and condition. I could be wrong here.....??

But when you stop for a week and get back into it..your muscles do hurt!

Kinda like a air pump...to fill the balloon with air..you need to keep pumping...when you stop, the balloon loses its' air and gets smaller...so to kept it growing you need to keep on pumping.

The human body is kinda like that..................gotta keep going...do the push-ups, sit-ups, jump rope, kicks, punches. Are you tired?

Easy to quit.....and it takes hard work to be successful....your choice...Aloha

 

[karatekid1975]

I haven't trained since December 2nd. Well, I have but limited do to surgery, and I tweaked my knee two weeks ago, so I'm still 'Idle." I did notice when I came back from surgery (before the knee thing) that my cardio went way down. Now my knee is screwed up. So I can't run, kick, or spar like I used to, so my cardio is still yucky. It will take me a few weeks (after the knee heals a bit) to get back in shape, at the least (maybe longer). I sparred the other night, and now my knee kills me, so I still have to be careful.

 

[bluemtn]

Unfortunately, it's natural for your body to become out of shape again. I know if I miss more than a week, I'm not able to do all that I normally do. My knee is still acting up, so I can't do jumps, twists, etc.- it stinks. I know when I am able to get into full swing again, I'll feel what I've been missing. I hope you get better soon, karatekid1975.

 

[karatekid1975]

Thanks tkdgirl. I'll work on it

 

[Carol]

Oh definitely. I missed about 3 weeks of training due to bronchitis. Unfortulately, in those three weeks I also lost a lot of weight - about 10 percent of my body weight. The quick weight lost meant losing weight I didn't want to lose, such as muscle.

So, I'm working on building everything back. It's a long process.

 

[Shirt Ripper]

or does it depend on the individual and how fit they were to start with?

Yes.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

is there a specific time period that you could take off before your fitness starts to fall? or does it depend on the individual and how fit they were to start with?

Like shirtripper said, it depends.

In my experience, the better shape you are in, the more quickly you notice a difference. However, if your fitness regimen only consists of three or four 30 min. brisk walks a week and strength training twice a week for 25-30 minutes (as mine often does when I'm too busy for MA), than I think you could go for a longer time (depending upon the individual) without noticing a dramatic fall. If you are a cutting edge athlete, you will notice one or two missed workouts.

 

[Miles]

I thought I read somewhere that it will take you approximately the same amount of time to get back to where you were as the time you took off. Take it easy getting back into your training though-you don't want to have forced time off due to an injury.

Good Luck!

Miles

 

[Shirt Ripper]

Think of it this way:

Fitness (muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, etc.) is a response to stress. You muscle is stressed through resistance and adapts to become stronger. Your bodies accomodative abilities, however, limit to what it needs to be able to do. If you take away that stress and return to simple daily activities (walking around, typing, etc.) you body will return to that level of preparadness as it is not necessary to maintain a higher level of strength. Make sense?

As far as coming back from a lay off...the lenght depends on you and the amount of work you are willing to put in relative to where you were, are and want to be. Just work back into things and get rolling, you'll be back in the swing of things soon enough.

 

[stone_dragone]

In my limited experience, the rule of thumb for fitness has seemed to be:

1 month of fitness can be lost in 1 week of inactivity.

1 year of fitness can be lost in as little as 3 weeks of inactivity.

The good news? The longer you are in shape, the quicker you can bounce back. The difference is conditioning vs. Being in shape.

If you are a decently conditioned athlete or martial artist, you can get "back in shape" much quicker than the average person can get "into shape".

My two bits.

 

[Aqua4ever]

I agree with Tigerwoman. Two weeks seems to be the breaking point. One week is almost sometimes good for your body, depending how hard you've been going, but at two weeks of inactivity you start to loose the fitness level you had. It shouldn't be impossible, or even near that to regain that, just a bit more determination.
Best of luck
Aqua

 

[michaeledward]

I am wondering how your memory of your fitness is playing into the discussion. And, what metrics you are using to measure against yourself?

Certainly, taking an extended break can lead to some conditioning atrophy. If the break was not too long, it should come back to you relatively quickly. But, could your memory have put a positive spin on what you were capable of doing before?

Just keep working honestly, and soon you will be satisfied with the results, I'm sure.

Mike

 

[Shirt Ripper]

I am wondering how your memory of your fitness is playing into the discussion. And, what metrics you are using to measure against yourself?

Certainly, taking an extended break can lead to some conditioning atrophy. If the break was not too long, it should come back to you relatively quickly. But, could your memory have put a positive spin on what you were capable of doing before?

Just keep working honestly, and soon you will be satisfied with the results, I'm sure.

Mike

Thank god for training logs, eh? Then you can't lie.