How Fast Do You Lose It!!!

I have felt incredibly out of shape when doing the workouts lately so I thought I would do some research to see how long it may take to lose your endurance and your strength.  I had taken approximately 8 weeks off to recuperate so, after reading the following articles, it makes sense that the WOD's would be a bit more challenging now.

The main bullet points are:

• "within one to two weeks of stopping exercise, changes can already be seen in cardiovascular fitness."
•  "decreases in strength don't happen as quickly as decreases in cardiovascular endurance"
• " Deconditioning in fit athletes doesn't appear to happen as quickly or drastically as in beginning exercisers. One study looked at well-conditioned athletes who had been training regularly for a year. They then stopped exercise entirely. After three months, researchers found that the athletes lost about half of their aerobic conditioning"
• "After a three-month break it's 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"

FROM:http://www.fitsugar.com/How-Fast-Do-You-Lose-Cardio-Fitness-Level-8373742
According to Dr. Karp "within one to two weeks of stopping exercise, changes can already be seen in cardiovascular fitness." There are decreases in mitochondrial density (the mitochondria is considered the body's aerobic engine on a cellular level) and VO2max, aka maximum oxygen level consumption. Karp also added that "decreases in strength don't happen as quickly as decreases in cardiovascular endurance." I guess muscles do have more memory than the heart and lungs.

"Unfortunately," continued Karp, "It takes longer to gain fitness than it does to lose fitness. How much longer depends on a number of characteristics (age, level of fitness before taking a break, genetic responsiveness to training, etc.)."

AND

FROM: http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/anatomyandphysiology/a/Deconditioning.htm
Losing fitness when you stop working out is one of the key principles of conditioning. The principle of use/disuse simply means that when we stop exercising, we generally begin to decondition, and lose both strength and aerobic fitness. Most of us need to stop exercising on occasion for any number of reasons. Illness, injury, holidays, work, travel and social commitments often interfere with training routines. When this happens, we will often see a decline in our level of conditioning.

Detraining in Fit Athletes
Deconditioning in fit athletes doesn't appear to happen as quickly or drastically as in beginning exercisers. One study looked at well-conditioned athletes who had been training regularly for a year. They then stopped exercise entirely. After three months, researchers found that the athletes lost about half of their aerobic conditioning..........................
......................................Detraining and Exercise Frequency and Intensity
Other research is looking at the effects of decreasing training level, rather than completely stopping all exercise. The results are more encouraging for athletes who need to reduce training due to time constraints, illness or injury. One study followed sedentary men through three months of strength training, three times a week. They then cut back to one session per week. They found that these men maintained nearly all the strength gains they developed in the first three months.

There are many individual differences in detraining rates so it's 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 VO2 max at least once per week.

If you stop exercise completely for several months it's difficult to predict exactly how long it will take you to return to your former fitness level. After a three-month break it's 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've stopped exercise.

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