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Use It Or Lose It: De-training Explained

3,428 views · Published 8 January 2016 · 3:22 · Indexed 28 September 2026

Channel: leonardmlee · 2016 · Sports

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If you've ever stopped cycling for a little while you’ll know that its possible to lose fitness real fast. Here’s what actually happens to your body and what you can do to slow it down.

A little while ago I posted a film outlining the benefits of regular cycling. Unfortunately, Illness, injury or even spending six months spent on the international Space Station can stop you from riding your bike.

A break of a couple of days will actually benefit the average rider. This is due to the overload principle. Put very simply, when we exercise, we damage our bodies. When it recovers, it returns to a level slightly above what it was before. This, essentially, is how training works.

After seven days of inactivity, though, your heart becomes less efficient in pumping blood around the body and your muscles start to lose their ability to take essential nutrients from that blood, so its a kind of double whammy.

Your muscles also start to lose definition and begin to feel kind of spongy.

If exersice isn’t resumed, these changes steadily continue until, after fourteen days, your heart and muscles are around 50% less efficient than they were on day one.

After a further two weeks of inactivity and it will be as if you are back to square one with your training.

If, during this time off the bike, you are also still eating the same amount of calories, chances are you will begin to see changes in your waistline..and not for the better.

Sadly I’be learnt all of this the hard way. I took a break from cycling over Christmas and did no  riding for nearly four weeks. In addition, lets just say I ate, drank and made merry. Not only did I put on weight, I had completely lost all of the fitness I had built up over the previous six weeks of daily cycling. When I finally got my sorry arse back on a bike, it was almost as if I had never ridden one in my life.

The light at the end of this dark tunnel is that fitness can be re-gained. For some it can come back relatively quickly, particularly if they were super fit to begin with. For someone like me- a less than average club rider- it just takes a bit longer.

So what can we do to stop this fitness loss? Its simple, take some exercise! At least three, fairly vigorous, thirty minute sessions a week, can stave off many of these changes.  If cycling isn’t possible try walking, Swimming or even running. If the enforced lay-off is due to illness or injury it is vitally important to be fully recovered before easing back in to it as soon as possible.


If you would like to follow my efforts on the bike you can follow me on Strava. My profile is here: http://www.strava.com/athletes/515946

You are also very welcome to join my virtual cycling club on Strava. By sharing our rides we can help and encourage each other to reach our fitness goals.

You can join the club here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/Chernobyl

and the Chernobyl Cycling Club Facebook group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/chernobylcyclingclub/

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