How fast do you get out of shape; how fast do you get back in shape?

jrwms714

HI - I have been a regular exerciser for my entire life. When I found MFP and started working out differently, I immediately saw results. For the past 4 years, I have been at the gym 5x/week, doing a mixture of cardio and free weights, bands, etc. Occasionally I walk briskly outdoors for an hour. This summer I added in Pilates another day a week, using the Reformer. I am very conscientious and never miss a day. Then, bam! Life threw me a curve ball, as it tends to do. I was ill for about 2.5 weeks, then went on a vacation where exercise (even walking) simply wasn't an option for about 3 weeks. So I am now 5- 6 weeks without any form of exercise and plan to resume my schedule tomorrow. My question is: how quickly do you lose all the benefits from the weights, and from the cardio, i.e., do I have to build up again with each, or can I just go right back to where I was? I'm pretty sure the cardio will still be fine, but the weights? I sure notice that I am not toned, as I was before all this. Your input would be greatly appreciated, especially if you have a similar workout schedule to me.
BTW, I have gained absolutely no weight in this time; in fact, have lost a few pounds during it. And also, I am celebrating my 2 years of maintenance this Friday. YAY!!!

cwolfman13

You will certainly have lost some fitness in that time...the good news is that muscle memory is a pretty awesome thing so you will regain it pretty quickly...

I've been on IR for about 12 weeks and hoping to resume things next week...I anticipate it will take about 8 weeks or so to get back to where I was about 12 weeks ago.

WaCowboy

I had to miss working out for a little over 9 months (medical reasons). I can tell you being gone that long will definitely show a difference in strength and endurance. When it comes to only a month you may notice a small difference, but you should recover pretty quickly.

lorrpb

You will backtrack a little bit, but should be able to regain your performance faster than it took to develop it initially. You might try pacing yourself a bit the first week or two, based on how it feels. Congrats on your maintenance success!

misscamp26

I was required to be on total rest for 6 weeks following major surgery and I was terrified to see how much ground I'd lost during that time. Fortunately, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. On my first trip back to the gym, I was able to do 40 minutes of low impact cardio and very quickly built back up to my normal 60 minutes/day at 85% max heart rate. I also found that my muscle strength was back to normal within 2 weeks. Wishing you all the best!

Alassonde

I recently took 3 months off. I wasn't feeling well enough to work out for a long time, turned out I needed my gallbladder out. By the time I was recovered from that surgery I had a month of insanity as both my sons were moving out to go back to college, etc. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I got back into it. I've only been back at it for a few weeks now, and I will shortly be back up to the weights I was at when I stopped. Having said that, I was also lifting relatively low weights compared to most people because I started out with pretty much no muscle and hadn't been at it for too long.

sijomial

I don't think you ever really lose ALL benefit from previously being fit and strong.

But there are big individual differences between people as to how quickly they lose muscle. I tend to get back to previous levels quickly but also tend to lose muscle and strength fast when not training. 3 months on crutches resulted in massive loss of leg muscle for example.

At the other extreme a colleague of mine got in great shape but then had a two year break from training - he barely changed shape at all, just got a little "softer".

Yes I think you should expect to have to build back up, but you should get good results quickly.

nowine4me

You'll bounce back quickly. You may find that recovery time was a blessing to help the little aches and pains.

gothchiq

It takes two weeks to begin to detrain.

ARGriffy

I've been inactive for 2 months now due to injury and am only just starting to do gentle exercise as I'm still injured but can't stand what's happening to my body any longer. I'm a different situation I guess as I broke a bone so will have zero muscle in that arm when it's finally ready to be used again but I've lost loads of strength in my other arm and my cardio is shot! I'm hoping once I start in proper recovery I get some muscle back pretty fast as I am NOT happy with the love handles that gave crept back on which I spent so long getting off!!

robininfl

I was out for 3 months due to injury and then another 2 for an unrelated surgery, and it took at least 3 months to ramp back up but I was being very careful. Cardio came back more slowly than strength for me, actually.

Oh, and I wanted to add:

you know how people say once your body is fat it seeks to return to being fat? Fit works the same way. If you have ever been fit, getting back and keeping it is easier than if it's the first time. Your body seeks to return to that state.

jrwms714

Hi - I'm the OP. Just wanted to report back that all of you were very helpful and that muscle memory is really really real. After 5 weeks of being off any exercise, I went back to my workout routine, started more slowly than usual, but in a week and a little more was back to my original cardio, weights, and Pilates workout.