Muscle loss, won't happen overnight. In fact, it could take over 12 weeks to really start to see any major differences. However, from around two weeks after stopping exercising you could begin to see some very gradual muscle tissue loss, also known as atrophy.
A two-week break, especially due to illness, won't derail your progress. Think of it as a recovery period that could even prevent overtraining or burnout. Your body is designed to adapt, and with consistent effort, you'll return to your normal strength and performance in no time.
While you may experience a temporary decrease in muscle size and strength after two weeks of inactivity, it's not a significant loss. Muscle memory helps regain lost gains when you resume your workouts. Consistency is key for long-term progress, but a short break usually won't erase all your gains.
A workout break may last one or two weeks and is an intentional respite, or time away, from your usual routine. You may need to take a workout break because you're tired, busy, or have other temporary priorities that need your full attention. Maybe you're bored and in danger of burning out or overtraining.
Yes, it is possible for a person to experience some loss of muscle gains after not exercising for two weeks. This is primarily due to a decrease in muscle protein synthesis and an increase in muscle protein breakdown when physical activity is reduced or stopped.
Aerobic Capacity
Research shows significant reductions in VO2 max within two to four weeks of detraining, which is attributed to decreased blood volume and cardiac output. Another study found that most of the aerobic capacity gained through exercise over two to three months is lost within two to four weeks.
In these studies, there was actually NO significant drop off in muscle mass after two weeks of detraining. Even if you are not training at all, you most likely will be doing some sort of normal everyday activity.
Generally, it takes anywhere from two to 12 weeks to regain cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength and feel like you're back at your previous level of fitness.
Physiological muscle memory
While they may lose muscle mass due to their inactivity, it will typically return more quickly than when they first put it on. This form of muscle memory occurs because when you first build muscle, your body adds new cells to those muscles.
In the first ten days to two weeks of inactivity/de-training, there is a measurable loss in cardiovascular fitness, but even this level of decrease is only about 2-3% drop in values such as VO2 Max, MAP (maximum aerobic power), or FTP (functional threshold power).
In the last decade, most researchers agreed if you took two weeks off from the gym, you were not only bound to lose all your gains, but you'd suffer some pretty serious psychological issues in the process.
You won't lose a material amount of muscle in 14 days provided you eat reasonably. If you've been lifting seriously for 5 years, you'll be fine. For what it's worth, when I'm on a holiday I treat it as a semi-deload week and I train 2 or 3 times a week.
Immediate Benefits (Weeks 1-2): When you begin incorporating cardio exercises into your routine, you may notice some immediate benefits. These can include increased energy levels, improved mood, and better sleep.
If your testosterone is low, there are natural ways to increase it, such as: Allowing ample time for sleep and recovery: The length of your recovery period is linked to the intensity and length of your workouts.
Studies have shown that muscle memory after resistance exercise may last 12 to 22 weeks. An older study suggests that muscle memory causes muscle cell changes that last for at least 15 years. But how long muscle memory lasts likely depends on several factors, including exercise intensity and frequency.
Although a small amount of natural muscle loss will inevitably occur with age, it can be slowed and sometimes even reversed.
Takeaway. Taking time off from intense training is not a bad thing. The present study shows that muscle mass is maintained and strength can actually increase. Next time you are forced to take a week or two off from training, ensure you train hard prior to the break.
For the majority of people, it takes roughly 130 quality hours to get fit. A lot of people ask me where I got that number. It's equivalent of training hard, an hour a day, 5 days a week, for 6 months. Your hours can't be half-ass hours, either.
So if you lose 1lb (0.45kg) a week you could hope to reduce your waistline by an inch after four weeks. Dieticians advise that if you eat 500 calories less than your daily requirement you will lose about 1lb every seven days (expect some variation from person to person).
Whatever the reason, before you know it, you're out of shape. Neglecting the gym every once in a while is nothing to worry about — after all, sometimes your body needs to rest and recover. But, when you hit pause on your workouts for more than a week, you might actually be throwing your fitness level into rewind.
A common misconception is that fat will replace muscle if you stop exercising. "It's absolutely not true," Petty says. "Fat cells and muscle cells are different structures and are not interchangeable.
Many avid gymgoers may be afraid to take time off from the gym for fear it will cause them to lose their gains. But research actually shows that the genes in our muscles contain a memory imprint — effectively holding genes responsible for muscle growth in a semi-prepared state.