If you've been working hard at your workout program for quite some time, you might be wondering what will happen should you choose to stop. Will you lose all your progress? And if so, how fast will it go?People come off their workout program for a variety of reasons. This could be due to injury, due to traveling, due to being ill, or simply due to life events taking up their time.
In any case, it's helpful to know what will be taking place in your body during these times so you can mentally prepare for it.
Let's look at some key things you need to know will occur if you stop training...
Your Cardio Fitness Ability. Between strength and cardio conditioning, cardio conditioning will be the first to go. You likely won't see much decline in fitness after a week off from training but beyond that, you'll definitely be noticing you don't quite feel the same as before when you return.
After about two months away, you'll have lost most conditioning, unless you were extremely conditioned to start. Consider yourself starting back at square one after this amount of time off.
Your Strength Level. Next we have your strength level. Your strength will be slightly slower to go and you'll maintain it quite well up to around 2 weeks away from the gym. Beyond that, you'll see some slight strength declines taking place.
The key is keeping your muscles feeling stress being placed on them, so if you do that naturally in daily tasks, you won't lose much strength.
By about 6 months away from the gym, your strength will be down considerably and you'll need to start from fresh once again.
Do remember though muscle memory is a very powerful thing and you'll find regaining lost strength is easier than getting it in the first place.
Your Muscle Mass. You also might wonder about your muscle mass. Will you lose muscle? You'll lose muscle and strength at different rates depending on what you do. For instance, if you focus on eating right, eat sufficient calories and protein, you'll see much slower muscle mass loss than you will see in loss of strength.
Only after about 2 to 3 months, while eating a good diet, will you begin to see your muscles starting to atrophy. If you are on bed rest however, this process will take place much faster.
Your Ability/Mind-Muscle Connection. Finally, note you will lose your mind-muscle connection and agility very quickly. Even after one week off you'll find when you come back to your sessions, you aren't feeling as you normally did. Your balance might be off and your lifts just won't feel the same.
The good news is this element comes back very quickly, so it shouldn't take long to start feeling like yourself again.