What happens when you stop going to the gym? Obviously, you’d lose some of what you gained while there, but how much? How quickly does detraining occur, and how does it impact your performance?
Most importantly, you need the right strategy for getting back on your program after a planned or unplanned interruption. Here’s what you need to know about detraining, including how to avoid it and maintain your gains.
What Is Detraining, Defined?
According to the National Institutes of Health, detraining refers to the incomplete or total loss of adjustments from training because of lowered or utter stoppage of physical activity. That’s a long, fancy way to say you begin to lose strength and endurance when you stop working out. When you do return to the gym, you need to modify your routine — sometimes significantly — to avoid injury, although you rarely have to start from scratch.
Is Taking a Rest Day the Same as Detraining?
First of all, erase any connection between regularly scheduled rest days and detraining. They are not the same — rest days are an integral part of any training routine. Detraining takes place over a longer period, generally lasting four weeks or longer.
Rest days are necessary because training creates microscopic tears in muscle fibers. You become stronger when they heal, which takes time. One or two rest days per week are sufficient for endurance work. Many who strength train follow an alternating schedule, working different body parts each day and allowing the others to recover.
How Quickly Does Detraining Affect Your Performance?
Several factors influence how quickly detraining affects your performance. One is your choice of sport. You’ll often lose 4% to 25% of your endurance performance within three to four weeks. Strength is a bit trickier.
Adaptations such as the capillary network providing blood to your muscles also decline. However, the rate of deterioration partially depends on how long you’ve worked out. Someone who has hit the weight room regularly for the last 20 years will see a slower loss of strength than someone who only worked out for a month or two before detraining. The capillary network strengthens through repeated use.
Why Detraining Occurs
Detraining can occur for several reasons. Perhaps the most devastating is an injury or illness that keeps you out of the gym. Surgery may require several weeks or months for recovery, and while you might gradually return to light activity during this time, you won’t be able to enjoy your regular routine.
You may have one ace up your sleeve if this circumstance applies to you. If you’re working with a physiatrist or physical therapist, you can ask their professional advice on the best training routine to follow once they clear you to return to the gym. They can suggest modifications that can get you back up to speed in the least time.
However, most detraining occurs due to lifestyle changes that interrupt your gym routine. If you don’t take proactive steps to plan a way to fit your workout into your new schedule, you could find yourself exhausted and out of time by day’s end. Fortunately, this cause of detraining is avoidable with the right approach.
How to Avoid Detraining
A common reason for detraining occurs when you go on an extended vacation or your job requires frequent travel that has you staying in different hotels each week. If this applies to you, you need an on-the-go fitness routine like our Cross Functional Fitness Program to keep you in shape. For example:
- Seek hotels with fitness facilities attached.
- If your trips are domestic, talk to your employer about a membership to a nationwide chain such as Anytime Fitness or Planet Fitness as a travel perk.
- Invest in bands and a jump rope and book a room on the first floor to work out in private without waking your neighbors.
- Do your research before departure to identify biking and running routes. Some parks have fitness stations with a track and various equipment, such as pullup bars and sit-up benches dotting the path.
- Keep up your regular fueling, like with our easily portable Single Serving Whey Protein Packs.
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Maybe you started a new job, or you’re among the many who picked up a spare gig or two to manage inflation. Fitness admittedly becomes harder — and more secondary — when you struggle to keep a roof over your head. If possible, use your breaks. If you work from home, don’t care about sweat and can run a mile in 10 minutes, you can squeeze in some cardio and a stretch during your morning 15 and hit the resistance bands in the afternoon.
Even if life has gotten really hard and you’re living in your car, your gym membership is good for more than mere showers. Actually using the facility provides recreation during your downtime while easing the stress inherent in such a lifestyle and helps avoid letting financial hardship affect your physical health.
How to Get Back in the Gym After Detraining: 4 Tips
If you suspect detraining has affected you, here are four tips for safely returning to the gym:
- Talk to a trainer: Even if you didn’t work with a physical therapist, many gyms provide one or two freebie trainer visits, so take advantage.
- Go slow: The last thing you want is an injury, especially if you recently came off the DL. Now is not the time to go hard if the result is going back home. If it’s been four weeks or more since you worked out, start at half of your previous level and adjust accordingly.
- Fuel your return: While you shouldn’t intentionally overeat, your body needs the right combination of carbohydrates, fats and lean proteins for optimal performance. Pay extra attention to your nutrition and consider a grass-fed protein supplement if your diet could use improvement.
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Have fun: Sometimes, detraining occurs when you grow so hopelessly bored with your routine that you give it up. Finding an activity you thoroughly enjoy is life-changing.
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Exploring Detraining
Detraining refers to the loss of strength and endurance you experience when you stop working out for several weeks or longer. Although it’s sometimes unavoidable, you can often prevent it and take steps to recover your gains.
Author Bio
Jack Shaw is the senior health and fitness writer at Modded as well as a coach and sports enthusiast. For the past 6+ years he's studied and written extensively about how people of all ages and skill levels can stay fit and maintain mental and physical health. In recent years his athletic expertise has been featured in BarBend, TrainHeroic, SimpliFaster and more.