📣📣 IMPORTANT NEWS! 📣📣
If you miss a couple workouts, do you know how long it will be before you start losing your fitness gains? Read on for the answer!
It happens: you get sick, go on vacation, work gets crazy, or you lose your mojo...and suddenly it has been a week (or two, or a month, or two...) since you’ve worked out. 😫
But, even if you’ve been regularly working out for a long time (months or years), the truth is it doesn’t take very long for your body to start losing the benefits of all your hard work! (Sorry.) 😭
Here’s a quick rundown of a recent study that put 35 men and women (aged 22 to 77) through baseline testing on several fitness and health measures. After their baseline, they were led through a 13-week workout program that included both cardio and resistance training.
The people in the study hadn’t been regular exercisers until they joined the study, which was sponsored by the American Council on Exercise. Not surprisingly, everyone who completed the program got in better cardiovascular shape, gained strength, lost fat, had lower blood pressure, and better blood lipid scores (lower triglycerides and higher “good” HDL cholesterol). 😱
After the program, researchers randomly split the group in two, with half continuing training and half stopping. Scientists kept monitoring them to check for body changes.
Here’s the deal: within JUST ONE WEEK of stopping training, they LOST their improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol! After TWO WEEKS, they lost a significant amount of strength and their VO2 max (a measure of cardio fitness) dropped. Plus, their body fat percentage started going up.
Shocking, right? It happens all too quickly!
What’s the takeaway? Building fitness into your EVERYDAY LIFESTYLE is the key to lower body fat, cardio fitness, and healthier blood pressure and cholesterol.
There are a LOT of things you can do at home or on the road to avoid losing all your precious fitness gains...and even continue MAKING health and fitness gains. The important thing is that you do SOMETHING, like go for a walk, or crank out a bodyweight circuit in your living room if necessary! Just get your body moving and stay active.
Not sure how to squeeze more fitness into your day? I am happy to offer a FREE 30-minute consultation to discuss ways that I can help you on your fitness journey! Just send me an email to pam@healthandsoulfitness.com with a good time to chat. I can't wait to speak with you!
Here’s the link if you want to check out more info on the study: https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/professional/certified/march-2019/7214/ace-sponsored-research-how-fast-does-fitness-fade
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