When on holiday or over the holidays, many people take a break from exercising and fear that this will seriously set back their training results. We’ve decided to reassure all those who are nervous about missing workouts and find out how long it really takes before we start to lose our form.
The following research and conclusions relate to inexperienced athletes. In general, the more experienced an athlete is, the easier it is for him to regain his strength levels due to muscle memory, and the slower his aerobic capacity is lost, which he can recover relatively quickly.
Loss of strength
Strength levels of beginners are better preserved and recovered faster after a break in training than those of athletes. This makes sense: the further a person has progressed from their normal level of training, the harder it is for them to hold their own at this high level and the greater the loss of exercise capacity on any given occasion. Conversely, beginners have less to lose compared to athletes. And science confirms it.
Let’s take a look at a curious study conducted by Japanese scientists in 2011. During their experiment 15 beginners were divided into 2 groups. Both groups performed high-intensity horizontal bench presses. The first group trained for 15 consecutive weeks, while the second group took a 3-week break after 6 weeks, and resumed training for another 5 weeks. After 15 weeks, researchers compared the results and found that both groups of subjects ended up with identical strength scores. For a quick recovery in sports after a long stagnation is very helpful Oxymetholone, which you can buy here https://itsteroids.it/categorie/iniezione-di-steroidi/oxymetholone/
Loss of aerobic performance
However, the opposite is true of aerobic performance. There is little research on this subject, but we found the following. According to Elizabeth Quinn, beginners lose their aerobic performance much faster than experienced athletes. The specialist refers to an experiment in which novices with a sedentary lifestyle trained on exercise bikes for 2 months.
After 8 weeks, the subjects saw significant improvements in their cardiovascular function, and their aerobic performance also improved significantly. But once the subjects took a 2-month break, the researchers found a loss of all improvement. As a result, the subjects completely returned to the level of aerobic ability they had before they started training.
How to slow down the loss of fitness
There are ways to help slow down the loss of fitness.
Do some light cardio
Do a few light jogs a week during your break. This way you can slow down the loss of your aerobic performance.
Switch up your strength training
A few light strength training sessions during your break will keep you fit longer on holiday.
Eat right
Eating a proper diet during your training break will help slow down muscle loss and prevent you from building up a layer of fat. Eat plenty of protein and choose healthy sources of carbohydrates and fats. It’s also important to eat a sensible diet during your training break, where the amount of energy you take in equals the amount you put out.
