What Happens When You Stop Working Out

Hey friends!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. This week I'm going to talk about what happens to the body when you stop working out for a period of time. I mean, we've all been there right? Maybe you went on vacation for a few weeks or maybe you had an injury that kept you from training for a few months. Now you find yourself dreading going back to the gym. Adaptation is real and your body will feel it. But why is it so hard to get back to a routine? Well, let's find out below!

When you pause your exercise routine, there are several physiological changes that occur. How much and how quickly you decondition is based on many factors such as your current fitness level and how long you were training before hitting the pause button. However, noticeable differences to your strength, endurance, and body composition can be seen within a two week period.

Let's See Those Changes!

Tissue:

First, your musculoskeletal system will take a hit. Without placing tension on your muscles, bones, and joints, they will start to atrophy (degeneration of cells). Even capillary and blood vessel size will be negatively impacted. Blood flow will decrease and it may cause an increase in your blood pressure. Simply put, your muscles won't engage as efficiently due to their underuse.

Bones density will decrease and so will tendon and ligament thickness. This will leave you more susceptible to injuries such as fractures, strains, and full tears. Because when you thin something out...well, it is much easier to unravel.

As muscle tissue adapts to being unloaded, fibers will essentially shrink and this will decrease the amount of glycogen that can be stored. Less glycogen being stored will increase fat storage. Think about it. If the body cannot rely on stored glycogen for a back-up source of energy (after glucose) then it will rely on fat stores; so this will increase by default. If you are not continuing to actively build muscle, then the body will get busy storing fat. Now go back and read that again.

Aerobic System:

While the body will hang on to strength and muscle for a good period of time, aerobic endurance will yield a sharp decline. The amount of blood pumped from the heart to the body will be reduced as well as the size of the mitochondria in cells. I mean, why would you need mitochondria to be robust if you are not moving as much? Your heart rate will increase as well. Fatigue will start to set in a lot quicker making going back to an exercise routine much harder!

Brain:

In a previous newsletter I discussed BDNF, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. BDNF promotes the growth of neurotransmitters and enhances connections between existing ones. This is very important to cognitive function! So taking some time off may cause you to experience some brain fog. Overtime, this can contribute to cognitive decline and dysfunction.

Dopamine levels also decrease the further from exercise you go. After all, dopamine is a neurotransmitter. So without BDNF giving you a cognitive boost, you will adapt to lower levels. Low dopamine levels also contribute to anxiety and depression, which is why making it to the gym can be difficult. Ya know, ya just dragging. However, this is why exercise can help!

Sleep:

Lack of exercise can lead to poor sleep. You see, exercise places metabolic stress (which is energetic) and mechanical stress on tissues. The body produces growth hormone and testosterone at night to help muscle tissue repair. This places the body in a deeper cycle of sleep because that is when all the hormones are produced. A lack of exercise will lead to higher amounts of stored energy that needs to be depleted. This can cause restless nights and increase anxiety. I mean, who wants to exercise when they are so tired from not getting enough sleep? You get my drift?

So if you are taking some time off from working out, cool. No worries. But keep in mind the further you get from a consistent routine the harder it is to get back into the swing of things because of all that stuff you just read! You read all that right? If you just skipped to the bottom do the right thing and go back to the beginning. 😂

Alright, happy Valentines Day and I hope you have a wonderful week. I'm rooting for you! 􏰁

Mike