A study found that both athletes and nonathletes can reach their peak fitness levels more quickly after a break, than when they first began training. Our bodies are good at maintaining overall strength. We know that skeletal muscular strength stays about the same during a month of not exercising.
However, as mentioned above, athletes can start losing muscles after three weeks of inactivity. You lose cardio, or aerobic, fitness more quickly than muscle strength, and this can start to happen in just a few days. According to a study in athletes, endurance decreases between 4 and 25 percent after a 3 to 4 week break in cardio.
Beginners may find their aerobic fitness is back to zero after a four-week break. As we age, it becomes increasingly harder to maintain muscle mass and strength. During a break, older people experience a bigger drop in fitness. One study from grouped participants by age to year-olds, and to year-olds and put them all through the same exercise routine and period of inactivity.
During the six-month break, the older participants lost strength almost twice as fast as the younger ones. The study found no significant differences in strength loss between men and women within the same age groups. However, the older women were the only ones to return to their baseline fitness level after the six-month break, meaning they had lost all their progress.
Menopause is most likely the cause for the loss of strength in the older female participants. A study found that it causes a decline in estrogen that decreases muscle mass and strength.
After taking a break from exercise, athletes are able to return to their former fitness levels more quickly than nonathletes, according to a study. Athletes regain their former muscle strength more quickly because of muscle memory. Taking a week off soon after a few of those aforementioned symptoms creep up on you will keep you from getting flattened by overtraining syndrome.
There are several benefits you give your body when you schedule a much-needed recovery week. You know how it is. Before any of those aches turn into something more serious, give your body a chance to heal itself. Many times over-training is due to a lack of recuperation of the nervous system. The only way to restore normal levels of these stress hormones is to de-stress yourself, starting with cooling it with your workouts for a week. Your muscles rely on glycogen for their energy, and resistance training depletes your glycogen stores during your workout.
Following an intense training cycle, a rest week is a great reward for your mind too. Former competitive bodybuilder Chris Zaino says that after a week of rest away from the weightlifting.
And another former competitive bodybuilder, Russell Yeager, says just about the same thing regarding your recovery week:.
Strength athletes can enjoy a surge in testosterone and growth hormone after a short break, says Sports Medicine. Take a break — within limits. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Related: How to rest better to build more muscle Your body needs regular breaks to adapt to sustained training.
Related: 9 best ways to get better quality shuteye tonight You keep training because you want your body to enter growth mode. Three facts you need to know 1. There is a start difference between dedication and compulsion. If you realize that you are always thinking about your next workout and probably doing so several times a day, you should seriously consider taking a week from lifting before you injure yourself.
A loss of appetite is very common especially in competitive athletes. A study revealed that this is caused by the stress they put on their bodies which leads to a hormonal imbalance that affects ghrelin and leptin, the hunger and satiety hormone, respectively 7.
If you are not a professional athlete then a loss of appetite should worry you. This is because you are extremely physiologically exhausted that your body cannot be bothered to feel hunger. Overtraining puts your body under constant and immense stress which keeps you from sleeping well and restfully.
Sleep is not only important for weight loss , but also great for muscle building 9. Without it you may end up losing muscle 10 and gaining weight It is not unusual to want to skip a gym session or feel too exhausted to go workout after a long day.
However, if you constantly cannot sum up enough energy to go to the gym or exercise at home, it might be time to take a week or two off from lifting. Moderate workouts are known to help build a strong immune system, lower the risk of diabetes, and even prevent certain cancers. Overtraining, on the other hand, has the opposite effects. Overdoing it with your weight lifting routine can make you susceptible to illness for up to 72 hours 6. Overtraining means that you are working out in a weakened state.
This leads to aggravating old injuries or getting injured more often. Overused muscles and joints also cause joint pain. Taking a week off from lifting could actually save your mental health. In most cases people use exercise as a way to deal with mental health issues, however overdoing it can have the opposite effect.
Frustrations from not sleeping well cause this poor performance, high expectations, as well as the habit of not eating enough, plateaued progress, and increased stress levels 2. This might be because your body is in a catabolic state — burning and consuming muscle as energy — where it leads to utter dehydration.
While this can be simply solved by drinking plenty of water, it is a sign that bigger trouble is on the horizon, and taking a week from weight lifting could be essential in preventing worse damage. Being constantly fatigued is not normal. Take a break from your routine to allow your body to recover.
In this case a passive rest week could be more beneficial than an active one. Improve your body and revamp your life with us! There are some benefits to taking a week off from weight lifting; some mental and others physical and they are as follows:.
This is probably one of the biggest benefits to having a rest day or a rest week. Whenever we are engaged in strength training, the stress we put on our muscles ends up causing microscopic tears in the muscle tissue. The more you work out the more the muscle tears. Resting gives the muscles time to heal, repair and grow. To anyone who may not be aware, when you take a rest day or a rest week, fibroblasts 14 , through the process of muscle fibrosis, heal and repair the muscle tissue which in turn makes them bigger and stronger.
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