Hi all!

Today is the official first day of summer and the season for vacations. Vacations typically mean most people hit a speed bump with their workout/training routines. Lets explore what happens when we take one day, two days,...... or even a whole month off.

Detraining Time Frames:

Days 1 to 2- Beta-endorphine & adrenaline levels drop. Mood affected negatively.

Days 3 to 5- Muscles lose elasticity. Aerobic capabilities drop 5% by the 5th day off!

Days 7 to 9- Body's ability to use oxygen drops by 10%

Day 10- Body's metabolic rate begins to drop.

Day 11 to 13- Max Heart Rate & cardiac output decline by 15%! Start to see first noticable loss in muscle tone.

Days 14 to 16- Mitochondrial activity in cells begin to decrease rapidly. Loss of muscle, strength, & metabolic rate occurs.

Days 17 to 19- Blood becomes less efficient at thermoregulation. Forced to spend excess energy to cool off.

Days 20 to 21- V02 max drops as much as 20%!!

Days 22 to 25- 10 to 15% loss of muscle mass & LOST MASS REPLACED BY FAT!

Day 27 to 29- Muscle strength drops by as much as 30%

Unfortunately, it doesn't take long to lose your hard earned gains. In the same way you can't magically get in the shape you would like or hit that magic number on the scale (that you should have thrown away last week) in 2 months when it took you 20 years to accumulate the fat you're carrying around. Fitness is a lifestyle and constant pursuit. There are no breaks. It should be enjoyable and as habitual as brushing your teeth. Even a little bit a day accumulates. Its called the La Cumbre Effect. Very focused & directed small units of work & modules can have a profound cumulative training effect. (Roger Bannister only trained during his lunch break during medical school to break the 4 minute mile!)