What actually happens to your body when you fall off the workout wagon?

MUSCLE LOSS 

The Process
Ever seen a leg that’s been in a cast? The weeks of immobility will have helped heal whatever break necessitated the cast being applied, but the leg itself looks pretty pathetic and fragile. This is because the muscles have atrophied. It’s an extreme example of the process that begins to take place when you stop training. ‘Atrophy (weakness and muscle loss) usually occurs when you don’t use a muscle. Muscles are the largest protein reservoirs in the body; during periods of inactivity they undergo protein degradation, which causes muscle loss,’ says Avinesh. 

The Timeline
Sad news for anyone concerned about looking pumped: The process begins fairly quickly. ‘You start experiencing muscle atrophy after about two weeks of inactivity,’ says Avinesh. 

CARDIAC FITNESS DECLINE 

The Process
Wouldn’t it be just wonderful if once you were fit, you just stayed that way, able to run marathons without necessarily training for them? We can dream. Unfortunately, over here
in the real world, the state of your fitness depends on your commitment. ‘When you are exercising, your body is constantly adapting to the changes it is experiencing, for example an increase in oxygen uptake and more oxygenated blood being pumped throughout your body,’ says Avinesh. These adaptations aren’t permanent, though. ‘When you enter a period of inactivity, your body is no longer under this pressure, and these adaptations don’t need to occur.’ 

The Timeline
‘The exercise mantra “use it or lose it” is true here,’ Avinesh says. ‘Even trained individuals lose fitness in about seven to 14 days. If you were out of shape to begin with and were not able to build the groundwork before stopping, then you will lose your fitness even more quickly, because your body has not adapted to the change.’

For more on what happens when ditching your workout and tips to aviod it, page through your February issue of Fitlife.