One week off will not negatively affect your gains. In fact, it will most likely do the opposite.
Taking one week off from the gym is unlikely to result in significant muscle loss. While there may be some temporary changes, such as a decrease in strength and power, actual muscle mass loss is not expected to occur within such a short period of time (1)(2).
It is totally fine, and actually beneficial, to take a week off from the gym. Most of your progress is made outside the gym in the form of recovery. When you lift heavy weights, your muscle fibers break down, and then when you aren't working out, they repair with stronger fibers.
It might have taken weeks or months to make substantial progress and sometimes even years to notice any change in your body composition. “When you look at the big picture, missing a week or two due to illness and recovery isn't going to set your progress back if you were lifting consistently for months prior,” he says.
This means that our muscles are ready to respond quicker and better to training in the future and promote growth after a period of rest. Even after long periods of time in a deloaded state (up to seven weeks), your muscular fitness can be restored to prime condition — and even beyond, in some cases.
“There's no hard and fast rule for how long a 'break' from exercise should be,” Ting says. “It may be as short as a few days, but it's important to realize as well that it can also be up to one to two weeks without any significant detriment or loss in previous fitness gains.”
Remember, if you're not injured or bedridden, try to get back to resistance training when you can. You've got about 2-3 weeks before you lose a significant amount of muscle mass and strength. If you are injured, incorporating light resistance exercises can help to maintain muscle function and metabolic health.
You'll Lose Muscle Mass
And while your body will hang onto strength gains longer than aerobic gains, throwing in the proverbial exercise towel will gradually lead to a loss of lean muscle mass, muscular strength, endurance, and neuromuscular training adaptations, explains Holland.
Taking a few months off from strength training can feel scary, but rest assured that you likely won't lose all of your gains after just a month or two of no training. During your extended break, find ways to stay active where you can and focus on eating a good diet.
Try to plan one recovery day for every 2 to 3 days of training. Except after a competition or a very intense effort, it is ideal to avoid choosing 2 consecutive rest days.
Physiological muscle memory
This form of muscle memory occurs because when you first build muscle, your body adds new cells to those muscles. But when you lose muscle, those new cells don't disappear, as previously thought. Instead, they stick around and are easily reactivated when you return to your typical routine.
If you're new to exercise it's a good idea to spend the first 10-12 weeks committed to regular exercise in order to develop a routine. Once you have a sound routine under your belt, and you exercise between 4-6 times a week, taking a week off could be good for your mind – and it shouldn't affect your fitness either.
Add protein to your diet: As you age, your body requires more protein to keep your muscles strong and body energized. Good protein sources include lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat dairy, lentils and beans. Healthy adults should aim to get between 10% and 35% of their daily calories from protein.
Will I lose muscle or progress? No! Deload weeks are designed to enhance long-term progress. The temporary reduction in intensity allows your body to supercompensate, coming back with a higher performance capacity and better equipped to handle higher training loads.
Doing 100 push-ups a day can help build muscle mass, strength, and endurance, especially in your core and upper body. But it can also increase your risk of muscle imbalances, injury, and overtraining. It's important to focus on proper form when practicing push-ups.
The muscle loss you experience from taking a week off weights isn't actually muscle. When you take a break from weights you start to lose water and stored muscle glycogen, thus giving the appearance that your muscles have decreased in size after a week. As soon as you hit them weights again, it'll come straight back.
How Taking a Workout Break Impacts Your Fitness. Try not to worry about losing the progress you've made. Research shows that it takes at least a few weeks for detraining to happen. If you're concerned about the impact of taking a week off from working out, it can be helpful to consider what not taking a break can do.
The frequency of deloading depends on the individual's training history, goals, and the intensity of their training program. Most athletes benefit from deloading every 4-12 weeks. However, if an athlete experiences symptoms of overtraining or fatigue, they may need to deload more frequently.
Let us talk you down. Studies show that those who weight train regularly are less susceptible to muscle loss when training breaks take place. In these studies, there was actually NO significant drop off in muscle mass after two weeks of detraining.
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.
In general, it may take around four to 12 weeks for you to notice any visible muscle shrinkage, and it may take about the same timeline to build that muscle back.