IT TAKES TWICE AS LONG
Exercise physiologist Lyle McDonald,
who has worked with a wide range
of athletes from powerlifters and
endurance runners to bodybuilders,
believes you can quickly regain what
you have lost during a layoff, although
it is highly variable from individual
to individual.
McDonald has seen lifters for whom a
short break of 3 to 5 days had a negative
impact, leaving them totally flat and
unable to perform. Others who took a
break returned to their training without any
problems, quickly regaining what they had
lost in terms of size and strength.
Periodic breaks, if applied correctly,
allow the nervous system to recover,
muscles and connective tissue to fully
repair, and other systems to recuperate
from the demands of chronic
training loads.
“Once the break gets beyond the 5-7
day mark, it is possible to lose some
progress, although most of the losses in
the short-term are more the neural training
adaptations than muscle mass, per se (a
lot depends on what caused the layoff),”
says McDonald.
According to McDonald, a layoff of 1 to
2 weeks would take twice as long for you
“IF YOU LOSE
2 WEEKS OF
TRAINING,
EXPECT IT TO
TAKE ABOUT
4 WEEKS TO
GET BACK TO
WHERE YOU
LEFT OFF.”
WHEN YOU SKIP THE WEIGHTS,
PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS
WILL BE LOST IN THE
FOLLOWING ORDER:
■ high intensity aerobic conditioning
■ aerobic conditioning;
■ muscle mass;
■ strength;
■ skill.
to get back to where you originally left off.
“If you lose 2 weeks of training, expect
it to take about 4 weeks to get back to
where you left off.”
“It's all about supply and demand,”
says exercise scientist Jason Karp, Ph.D.
“When we exercise, we stimulate the
syn thesis of proteins, like mitochondria
and enzymes, to meet the demand we
place on our bodies. When we stop
exercising, we eliminate the demand,
so we start to lose our supply.” He
recommends a slow and steady approach
of using lighter poundages for 2 weeks
before pushing to where you were before
the layoff.
A longer layoff will result in a longer
period to return to where you were as
both neural adaptations and muscle mass
are lost. A good rule of thumb, depending
on the circumstances of the break (injury
or rest) is to start with a low volume of
training and gradually work your way
back up to your former work capacity.
Rushing the process is only going to invite
injury and frustration. Leave the heavier
sessions for when you have re-established
your base, then build up from there.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT HOW
QUICKLY YOU LOSE MUSCLE ARE:
■ your age;
■ the length of your training regimen
prior to your break;
■ type of exercises you usually perform.
BREAK
N JUST TRAINING TIME?
LOSING
MUSCLE IN
A HURRY
Researchers (Lo, et al
2011) monitored two
groups of people who
trained for a duration of
3 months on either an
aerobic conditioning or
weight training schedule.
Both groups stopped for
up to 3 months and were
then assessed. After 4
weeks of inactivity, the
VO2 max gains were
completely lost in both
groups of individuals. After
3 months of no training,
the aerobic training group
had lost all their training
improvements, while weight
trainers still held on to
some of their muscle gains.
The rate of muscle loss
was, however, greater than
the rate of strength due
to the fact that the neural
mechanisms of strength
(how to best recruit muscle
fibres) were better retained,
even while the size of the
muscle fibres diminished
with time.
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