How Long Does It Take to Get out of Shape?
The holidays are here and with all of the shopping, family and friend gatherings and everything else, your workouts have been sporadic at best. Your clothes still fit just as they always have though and overall you look and feel the same as you did when you last worked out about a week ago. Since you haven’t seen a change yet, you start wondering if you can make it through the holidays without exercising so you can use that time to do everything else that needs to get done. After all, how long does it take to get out of shape anyway?
Unfortunately, as much as we’d like to tell ourselves that it’s okay to get off the exercise bandwagon, fitness is very much a use it or lose it type of endeavor. The more time we take off from our routines, the more noticeable the loss of fitness will be. As a rule of thumb, it takes about twice as long (if not longer), to get in shape as it does to get out of shape.
The amount of time in which we notice these changes though is dependent upon our current activity level as well as the individual. It’s also important to note that cardio loss is different than strength loss.
So how does activity level make a difference?
Fitness Level | Strength | Cardio |
Regular Exerciser | General strength won’t change for about 4 weeks, but sport-specific muscle fibers will start to change. | Aerobic conditioning declines much faster than strength. It’ll only take about 2 weeks to notice a difference. |
New Exerciser | Strength won’t be much of a concern. The gains made by those newer to exercise are easier to retain. | The last two months of aerobic conditioning gains will be lost in about 4 weeks without exercise. |
Having a general understanding of what happens to our fitness can be a good motivator to keep pushing forward in our routines. Outside of the activity level factor though, there is a general timeline that gives us an idea of what happens to our bodies when we stop exercising.
- 10-14 Days: Cardio is impacted. The body’s ability to consume and use oxygen (VO2 max) declines.
- 4 weeks: Strength is impacted. Muscle fibers begin to shrink.
- 4-8 weeks: Strength is impacted even more. The decline in strength is noticeable and measurable.
- General Rule: Weight will be impacted when the number of calories consumed are greater than the number of calories burned. It’s about balance. If we stop working out but continue to eat the same amount we always have, we will gain weight because we are no longer getting the benefit of burning the calories during our workout.
After reading all of this, you may be thinking that you shouldn’t take any time off from exercise, but that’s not true. While taking too much time off from exercising can cause a decline in fitness level, it is important to take needed breaks. Don’t let the fear of losing your fitness stop you from taking rest days. Those days off provide and important role in our fitness journey by allowing us to mentally and physically recover and come back even stronger.
We’re not going to get out of shape in a few days. It’s only over an extended period of time that we really start to notice a difference. So if the holidays are getting in the way of your fitness routine, don’t stop working out entirely. Instead of working out 5 times a week, keep that same intensity of training but exercise two or three times a week instead. This will allow the overall time commitment to decline, but not our fitness level.