How out of shape are you going to get if you stop working out for a few days? Maybe you’re traveling, it’s Christmas, there’s a lot going on and you can’t get your regular workouts in. It’s so common for us to think, “Man, I missed a full week workouts so now I’m so far behind and it’s going to be so much work to get it all back.”  Instead of panicking and getting discouraged, let me tell you some of the myths and facts about what happens when you take a few days off.

Christmas is nearly here!

I’m sure you want to take a few days off from your regular workouts, but you might also be afraid that you’ll lose what you’ve gained.

I want you to know exactly what happens when you take time off from training.

You basically want to know “how out of shape am I going to get if I stop working out for a few days.”

I want you to be confident and be at peace when you have a few off days (rather than that nasty thought in the back of your mind that “I’m losing everything I worked for”.) It’s so common for us to think, “Man, I missed a full week workouts so now I’m so far behind and it’s going to be so much work to get back.” Once again, your mind is playing tricks on you, and this is just not the case.

Deconditioning

When you take time off from training and your body begins to lose ground, this is called Deconditioning.

When you stop working out, what are you going to lose? And what’s the order that you lose it?

• Cardiovascular fitness and flexibility - these are usually the first to go - you’ll probably notice these the most. If I go even a couple days without doing some sort of flexibility work, my body just feels tight and achy and my posture gets all out of whack.
• Muscle mass - the size and strength of your muscles - Muscle atrophy actually takes quite a while to lose.
• Nervous system - muscle memory and the ability to fire up or engage a muscle. Once you’ve got this, it takes a long time to lose it. It’s like riding a bike or swimming.

The degree to which you get out of shape is totally dependent on a couple things:

• How long you go without training (is it just one week or is it a full month?)
• How completely sedentary you are during that time (Did you run up the stairs during that week? Did you lift a heavy box? Did you go for a walk with your friend?)
• You can BUILD fitness with two workouts a week, you can MAINTAIN your fitness level with just one
• Go longer than a week without a workout and you will start to feel your fitness slipping

Words of wisdom

My advice for you if you’re going to take a week off or even two:

• Don’t be completely sedentary - you’ll lose your fitness at a much faster pace
• Prioritize the thing that makes your body feel best. For me it’s not cardio, it’s flexibility work.
• If you can, aim for at least one full workout a week, especially if you know it’s going to be two weeks or more. This will pretty much ensure that you’ll maintain your fitness level.
• Stay moving! Go for walks, play, run with the kids - avoid being completely sedentary.
• As soon as you’re able, step right back into your consistent routine.

I take time off, too.

Several times a year, I’ll take a full week or so off from my regular workouts - it’s usually for a family vacation.

• Our trip to Italy for our anniversary
• Didn’t workout. We walked everyday - hills! If I felt tight and achy from all the walking, I would do some deep stretching in the evenings.
• When we returned, I got right back into my workout routine. I moved a bit slower and used slightly lighter weights as I eased back in and I definitely felt my cardio, but after even just one or two workouts, I felt like I was right back in the game.

The big takeaway…

The big takeaway that I want you to get from this is that it’s ok to take some time off. Don’t panic. You’re not going to lose that much and you’re definitely not going to go back to zero. That thinking is usually what makes that one week off turn into two, three, four… you start to think that you’ve lost so much, that you’ll have to start over. So you put off the starting over until the timing feels right.

Instead, enjoy your time off, stay moving, do some stuff that feels good for your body, and pick right back up where you left off when you can.

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