Exercise Break: How Long is Too Long?

Unlike Stubborn belly fat that never seems to go away, it is commonly

thought that with muscle mass, if you don’t use it, you lose it.

While this is partly true, it's a little more complicated than that.

Can you lose Muscle ?

You can ultimately lose any type of body weight including fluid, fatty tissue and muscle - especially when Minding calories. However, our body tends to prefer burning fat over muscle when it needs the fuel. Lean Tissue (muscle) is a precious mass that our bodies use to store nutrients, provide strength to our frame, and power our metabolism. For these reasons, body tends to want to hang on to it as much as possible.

How do you lose Muscle ?

Unlike fat that requires a calorie deficit to lose, muscle loss can be achieved with inactivity alone through muscle atrophy. Muscle atrophy can also occur naturally as you age (sarcopenia), and as a result of malnutrition -primarily low protein intake. Muscle atrophy is the physical wasting or thinning of muscle mass caused by disuse resulting in decreased size and muscular strength.

How long does it take to lose Muscle Mass ?

How quickly muscle atrophy takes place depends on your current fitness level and the amount of time you were inactive. The more muscle mass you have, the harder it is to maintain with inactivity and the more you'll potentially lose. In other words, fit individuals are likely to lose muscle mass more quickly than unfit individuals. Some research suggests that you can lose as much as 2 pounds of muscle in just one week of inactivity - if you are fully immobilised (injury). And another study suggests your muscle size can decrease by about 11% after ten days of exercise break, even when you aren’t bed ridden.

But before you panic and start regretting every vacation or week off you’ve taken, it is important to understand that true muscle atrophy typically takes place during times of injury or when you completely stop using your muscles for an extended period of time. Additionally, a decrease in muscle size doesn’t always mean muscle loss, often times it's from decreased fluids. When you take a break from training, water loss and glycogen

depletion can cause your muscles to decrease in size by up to

20% in a week. The after workout “pump” you’ve learned to love

so much is directly tied to this and your glycogen and water

store can return fairly quickly once you resume exercising. The bottom line is that taking a few days off, or even a few weeks in many cases, won’t seriously derail your progress. Remember, you’ll also be able to reach your peak fitness levels more quickly after a break than you did when you first began training.

How long does it take to regain Muscle ?

The better shape you were in while training, the quicker you’ll be able to get back to that level. Several factors affect how long it will take you to lose and regain your fitness levels if you take a break. It also depends on what kind of exercise you do. You can step away from strength training for a longer time without seeing big setbacks. If you do endurance sports, like running or swimming, you’ll see a decline in your cardio fitness more quickly. If you need to cut back on your exercise but don’t have to stop completely, even a minimal amount of strength or cardio activity can prevent you from losing all your progress.

If you’re struggling to stay on track with a fitness plan, We can set

you up with a plan that takes into consideration your

lifestyle, fitness levels, goals, and any injuries.

To maintain or regain, the MANAlifestyle.in expertise can help you finding the

right routine to enjoy exercise and stick with it long-term.