-- A personal trainer in Northbrook IL finds the following research:
People who work out may miss a session or two on occasion because at times life takes them away from the gym and into other places. But how significant are these occasional lapses? Many think that if a few weeks of training are missed the gains made will erode. However, scientific evidence suggests otherwise. Researchers from the University of Maryland found that even a break of seven months fails to completely eliminate the gains that younger (20-30-year-old) and older (65-75-year-old) people received from nine weeks of strength training. In this study, the participants, who were previously sedentary, did intense strength training focused on their front thigh muscles in one leg. After nine weeks, all the study participants stopped doing the training. Then their strength was retested 12 and 31 weeks later.
After the initial nine-week training period, the younger and older adults gained 34% and 28% in strength, respectively. The tests at 12 weeks after no training showed that no real strength loss had occurred. It was after this point that the losses started happening. Between weeks 12 and 31 of the detraining, the younger men and women lost 8% of their strength, while the older adults lost 14%; no differences appeared in the strength lost between men and women of the same age groups.
Three points stand out from these results. First, many peoples’ bodies can retain the strength they initially build as beginners for up to three months after stopping training. (More advanced trainees will likely experience some losses in advanced fitness levels in less than three months.)
Second, even seven months after stopping training, the men and women in the study hadn’t lost everything that they had gained from training. They trained for only nine weeks and still kept at least half of the strength they had gained.
Finally, younger people are more adept at maintaining the gains they get from exercise. In the 31 weeks following the end of the strength training program, the younger group lost 24% of the strength they had gained, while the older group lost half.
These results suggest that consistency in working out is the only way to maximize gains in strength, health, and improvement in muscle, bone, etc. However, missing sessions from time to time is not detrimental. The study participants missed three months before their strength started eroding. Consistency is especially important for older adults. Fast twitch muscle fibers, which are the largest fibers and handle the greatest challenges in everyday life, atrophy more quickly with age.
In conclusion, the research indicates that once some strength is gained, the body appears to want to keep it. The study also shows that a seven-month absence did not undo nine weeks of strength training.
Reference
Lemmer, Jeff T., et al. “Age and gender responses to strength training and detraining.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise 32.8 (2000): 1505-1512.
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