This time last month I was travelling to the other side of the world, Australia. As much as I looked forward to the trip, I was anxious about how long a break it would be from training. I’d done some research and knew the hotels all had a gym so I packed my gym clothes with complete intent to get a few workouts in. As it turns out I didn’t use the gyms once, I didn’t even step foot on the floors of the hotels they were on. In total, I didn’t workout for 3 consecutive weeks of October, quite possibly the longest break since I started lifting years ago.
I want to share my experience upon returning and hopefully give some peace of mind to anyone feeling a little anxious about taking a break.
Muscle size
After taking time off training, you may feel flatter and appear less lean. More likely it’s simply that you’ve lost some of your bodies stored water, not that you’ve lost any muscle.
A little science
1) During resistance training muscles are put under stress, this causes microscopic tears in the fibres, which are how they are able to adapt and improve over time. When these tears occur the muscle may swell a little and retain some fluid to help heal the muscle.
2) Glycogen is the bodies preferred source of energy but to fuel our body it has to bind with water. When you exercise regularly, your body stores more glycogen as it needs more fuel, which leads to more stored water.
When you stop training – this all goes away. You’re left less inflamed and as you don’t need as much glycogen to fuel you.
Strength
When you take any time off, the first week or so can be tough. You might not move quite right, feel as flexible, get out of breath faster and just feel weaker! In my personal experience, I believe I lost around 8-10% of my own strength. I worked hard to progress and it can feel like it’s been lost far too easily. What you need to remember, and I must remind myself is that it’s not permanent!
When you lose some muscle mass you can regain pretty fast, this happens through something known as muscle memory. When you’re regularly training your body produces more nuclei within the muscle fibres, allowing them to grow larger and stronger. When you stop training the muscles fibres are resistant to atrophy (a decrease in the mass of muscle) due to the increased number of nuclei. When you start to train again, the muscles are able to grow quickly because the nuclei is already there, ready and waiting.
Fat gain
Fat gain is very dependent on the rest period. Your body won’t gain lots of fat simply by taking time off. What will cause any fat gain would be the combination of not training and over consuming. Be aware there is a difference between overeating for the whole holiday and overeating on a few occasions, or over a few days.
I indulged on my holiday. If you know me, you know I love food (@meakin_95) and I’m a real sucker for brunch. I found and tried the best Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney had to offer and enjoyed every bite. This short term overeating hasn’t caused me to pack on the pounds; I’ve not gone up a dress size and I don’t regret saying yes to anything.
Tip! Don’t under eat in an attempt to get back on track. It could cause your body to start using the muscle you’ve worked hard for as energy. Fuel your body and just get back on track!
