There are many reasons for falling “out of shape”. Starting with injuries decrease in motivationit’s natural for your fitness to ebb and flow. The good news is, whether you’ve always been an athlete or can never stick to a workout routine, there are tried and true methods to help you get back in shape.
What does it really mean to be “fit”?
Physiologically speaking, physical fitness requires a holistic view of several factors: cardiorespiratory status, muscle strength, mobility (including flexibility and range of motion), and neuromuscular control (ie, balance and agility). Heather MiltonClinical exercise physiologist at NYU Langone’s Sports Performance Center.
Anecdotally, being physically fit will look and feel different for everyone, but it often means you have good energy, feel strong, are able to perform daily functions without pain, have mental clarity, and generally feel healthy and happy.
This subjectivity means that getting back into shape will have different goals for different people. “Does being ‘fit’ mean you’re able to ride to work all day and still have energy to play with your kids, or does it mean you’re able to hit a new mountain bike trail without injury?” he says. Jacqueline CrockfordACE Certified Personal Trainer. Understanding your why will help you maintain the motivation needed to support your goals in the long run.
The good news is that there are steps anyone can take to improve their overall fitness. Here’s what to expect.
How fast can you lose fitness?
To understand how to effectively regain fitness, it helps to know how quickly the initial results can go. You can really lose your cardio and muscle strength with two full weeks off, says Milton. That doesn’t mean you’ll lose all your gains for two weeks, but that’s when you can expect the decline to start, he says. In general, cardio endurance declines at a slower rate than muscular strength and endurance, which results in a fairly rapid decline when you stop training, Crockford adds.
Loss of fitness can also lead to increased blood pressure, decreased blood oxygen levels, reduced neuromuscular efficiency and heart strength, reduced lung capacity and changes in resting heart rate, Milton explains.
Age is also an important factor to consider, says Crockford. Maximal oxygen consumption (or VO2max), muscle strength and mass, and flexibility naturally decline with age, while total body mass and fat mass increase, according to a study published in 2009. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity.
How fast can you get fit again?
On average, if you strictly follow an evidence-based and strategically designed fitness program, meaning you’ve done your homework and stick to a specific plan, you can expect to regain your fitness in 16 weeks, says Milton. Muscle strength can begin to improve in four to six weeks with visible results in 12 weeks. Improvements in your cardio also follow a linear pattern, with small changes gradually building up over time, he says.
“However, that is in a vacuum,” notes Milton. This doesn’t take into account lifestyle factors such as changes in weight, diet, health conditions or hydration, all of which can have a big impact on how long it takes you to get back into shape.
“The rate at which someone regains fitness, both in terms of muscular and cardiorespiratory measures, is dependent on a number of factors, including programming, previous fitness levels and exercise experience, as well as age,” says Crockford. How much time you took off from exercise matters too, says Milton. If it’s been a few weeks or a few months, that’s a big difference than a few years. “If it’s less than a year, maybe you start at 50 percent of where you left off and gradually build from there,” he says.
How to get fit again after a break
The first step is to set a clear and, ideally, measurable goal. Saying you want to “get back in shape” can lead to a cheery outlook on training that will ultimately take you longer to reach your goals, as long as you don’t get discouraged and bail along the way, says Milton.
The most important thing to remember when getting back into your workout routine is to pace yourself. This is especially true if you’ve been largely inactive (rather than opting for low-intensity activities), are coming back from an injury, or are older.
Older adults have been training for more years, so they may be smarter about cutting back on a renewed routine, says Milton, but conversely, if you want to avoid doing the grueling workouts you did when you were younger. . Bodies change over time, and it’s okay if your fit version looks different in your 40s than it did in your 20s, she said.
A steady progression of difficulty will ensure you stay on track, preventing injury or burnout, says Milton. Cardio can be increased based on the total volume of your training, meaning that if you can successfully run three hours each week, you can increase the duration of the total amount of time you run each week. Advancing strength-based training can look like doing more reps using the same weight or picking up a heavier weight while doing the same reps, Milton adds. Maximum repetition weight testing—think: how many push-ups you can do in one minute—is also a good universal strength-building tactic. The bottom line is that you can get fit again, but it probably won’t happen overnight. Small, smart steps over time will lead to the results you will achieve, so practicing patience is necessary.
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