Why is it that fitness is so hard to gain, yet so easy to lose?
If you have slogged away for months gaining some areobic fitness, only to return from a three week holiday in a lot worse shape then you have experienced the effect of de-training.
It is an unfortunate reality, that fitness is a lot harder to gain than it is to lose.
It all has to do with the daily stress you put your body under: If you follow a well periodised training program then you are sure to experience excellent gains. If you place your body under too much stress then you are likely to get injured or suffer from over-training. To little stress and you will not progress very fast at all. No stress at all and your body will not be given the stimulus to burn stored energy in your body (read: fat) nor put on muscle.
When we train over a period of time the body gradually adapts to the ‘stress’ we are putting it under. If suddenly that stops the body immediately begins to adapt to the new ‘normal stress’ state ( ie nothing) by dumping the excess muscle and associated metabolic enzymes/proteins it no longer requires.
The obvious and easy way to prevent this is to continue to train all year round. This does not mean long and hard all the time, but by stressing your body between events/weddings you will find you are in a lot better shape all year round – literally and figuratively.
January 6, 2009 at 1:11 am |
Good post. I have found that you are so right about a periodised training program. You can make huge gains using that method. It also reduce injury risk if you take easy weeks in there somewhere. I have also found that I have lost fitness by taking some time off recently, but it tends to come back pretty good. Also, the longer my long runs are, the longer that fitness stays. So a 20 mile long run stays for a month or so, but a 35 mile long run stays for maybe 2 months.
Great post.
http://run4change.wordpress.com
August 31, 2009 at 6:25 pm |
Yep, agree with most of that. Unfortunately people tend to ‘de-train’ a lot quicker than it takes to train.