Skipping gym?

Trex5009

I'm curious.. if I take a break from the gym for a while. Max is a month. Will I become fat again? I say again because I've lost so much weight and I'm scared of gaining any kind of fat. Do any of you maintain without ever exercising? I'm not gonna be sitting around all day.. I have work and school. I'm just swamped with school right now that's why I'm wondering if it's okay to not work out.

cwolfman13

You would have to eat less to compensate for moving less.

kommodevaran

It's okay if you eat at maintenance. I don't use a gym and I've maintained a healthy weight for three years.

BZAH10

You can maintain your weight and even lose without exercising. It's all about accurate calorie intake.

Any specific reason for the gym break? Don't need to say so if you don't want. Just curious. There are plenty of non-gym activities you can do, too. Unless you're taking a break for physical / health reasons.

psychod787

I read a study that stated that you could spend up to a month not lifting, and not lose your gains.

RoxieDawn

You can certainly take a break and since your EAT (exercise activity) is changing your TDEE changes, some calorie adjustments might be needed to compensate for lack of extra cal burning.

Okiludy

CI=CO is what allows you to maintain a certain weight. So no you don't have to go to gym or exercise at all if you watch intake.

No the bad part, you will likely start to detrain in even a month off. DOMS will be more pronounced again and if you lift you will see your numbers slide a bit. Not necessarily much but it is something you should be aware of. I don't think taking a week off would detrain you much but more than that it might be a concern.

alicebhsia

i read in a magazine that if you stretch regularly you will retain about 90% of your muscle without working out. as far as gaining fat that will probably depend on how you eat.

Packerjohn

Lose maybe 5-10% of strength after 3 week layoff. Fat gain depends on diet (CICO)
https://www.t-nation.com/training/how-to-keep-muscle-during-a-layoff

lorrpb

Not exercising will contribute to flabbiness, even if you stay the same weight. The problem I've seen posted on here is that when people change their activity level, they fail to adjust their calories eaten, and thus gain. You might need to drop only a couple hundred calories per day, but probably some kind of adjustment should be made,

Consider if you can reduce the frequency or length of your workouts rather than eliminating them completely. Many people find that exercise helps them manage stressful situations, good for mental health, etc etc. Good luck in school.

LivingtheLeanDream

Your TDEE will drop if you stop exercising so you wont gain weight if you adjust your calories accordingly.
You might see some loss of definition and softening in areas because of the lack of exercise but the good news is even after a break as soon as we starting exercising again we get back into shape fairly quickly.

sijomial

How are you accounting for your exercise calories now?
If following the MFP method your base calorie goal won't change, you just won't be logging and eating back exercise calories.

Expect to lose some strength in a month, but it will also come back quickly when you resume training as over that time period it's mostly neuromuscular adaptation rather than muscle tissue loss.
Just getting in a few short/sharp training sessions would help for sure though but only you know how time squeezed you are.

Could you fit in some bodyweight exercises into your day?