Unfortunately, fitness is not like riding a bike; if you get out of practice for a long time your body may not be able to respond well to picking back up the activity. When an athlete suffers an injury that sends them out of commission for a while, they may have to train their body to relearn the muscle movement necessary for their sport.
When you take a break from your sport, you may lose fitness when you stop exercising. How quickly you lose it depends on several factors, including how fit you are, how long you have been exercising, and how long you have been out of practice.
Losing fitness when you stop exercising is one of the key principles of conditioning for a sport. When we stop exercising, our bodies generally begin to de-condition.
This means we lose both strength and aerobic fitness. There are several reasons why people stop working out, including illness, injury, holidays, work, travel, and social commitments.
These things coupled with busy schedule often interfere with regular training routines. When this happens, we will often see a decline in our level of conditioning.
De-conditioning for athletes who are in amazing physical shape does not appear to happen as quickly or drastically as in beginning exercisers. For instance, if an athlete who has been training in their sport for the majority of their life suffers and injury and has to stop suddenly for several months, they will lose about half of their conditioning.
This is significant, but not nearly as drastic as with beginning exercisers. If a beginner has a few solid months of exercising and has to stop completely for whatever reason, they will lose all of their conditioning in a matter of a few weeks to a month.
Though these examples show an individual stopping intense physical activity completely, this is not usually the case. Normally, when athletes get injured, they simply have to cut back on their training significantly; not halt it all together.
When athletes get injured, it is typically just to one part of the body, like the leg. They can still train with their other leg and upper body with weight training.
This allows them to not have to de-condition their entire body; just one part. This makes time from injury to full functioning significantly less.
There are many individual differences in detraining rates so it is impossible to apply all of these study results to all athletes. But it appears that if you maintain some higher intensity exercise on a weekly basis, you can maintain your fitness levels fairly well.
Studies have shown that you can maintain your fitness level even if you need to change or cut back on you exercise for several months. In order to do so, you need to exercise at about 70 percent of your maximum capacity at least once per week.
If you stop exercise completely for several months it is difficult to predict exactly how long it will take you to return to your former fitness level. After a three-month break it is unlikely that any athlete will return to peak condition in a week.
In some athletes it may even take as long as three months to regain all their conditioning. The time it takes to regain fitness appears to depend on your original level of fitness and how long you have stopped exercise.
If you need to take time off from training for any reason, there are some guidelines you can follow to keep your muscle memory strong. In order to maintain fitness through breaks you should try not stop completely at any point.
If you do have to stop, try to only cut back, and leave a certain amount of exercise in your daily routine. You can try to cross-train through injuries, meaning you can work on other body parts even while one part is out of commission.
Use circuit training routines for fast, high intensity exercise at least two or three times a week. You should also practice efficient strength training methods.
Use fast workouts to maintain fitness when you only have a limited amount of time on your hands. Remember that rest and recovery can be as important as training, especially when you suffer a physical trauma.
Author Resource:-
Ronald Pedactor has worked in the exercise and health industry for 31 years. When searching for a good deal on exercise equipment he suggests getting someone knowledgeable to treadmill reviews, and tell you their qualities.
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