How long without proper training until atrophy?

[sh1]

Hi,
Forgive my ignorance, but how long can I go without working out to my full capacity before I begin to lose mass?

Basically, I'm back from uni for 3 weeks, with a week of exams afterwards, and this first week, I'm undergoing some ambulatory EEG tests. With a lot of wires hanging off me, I'm a but wary about weightlifting in case I damage any of the recording equipment.

After this week, I'm going to start doing dumbbells at home (I can't really afford to sign-up to a gym for the weeks that I'm back from uni at a time) for the next 2 weeks of the holiday, but I'm worried that without a spotter, bench, squatrack etc and not as much weight available as I have been doing on deadlifts, I'm not able to push myself quite as hard.

When I get back to uni, I can access the gym, but with exams in the week, I don't know if I'm going to be able to really focus on the gym.

Basically, I'm worried that with about a month off of pushing myself to the maximum in my workouts, I may lose some of the gains I've been working towards.

If anyone has any help/advice/feedback it would be much appreciated

Thanks,
Stu

[Pkant2002]

I currently am also in your situation, I have found being back from Uni and especially because its Christmas i am in large demand and haven’t been able to get to the gym for over a week now. Though luckily i have got 3 days ahead of me now where i am going to do 2 weight sessions and blast a cardio session out as im feeling fat after 2 Christmas dinners with all the trimmings. But onto your question.

Presumably if you don’t work out for 4 weeks you may start to lose some mass but i doubt that you would lose a lot and once you go back it hopefully shouldn’t take too long to put it back on. But all i would say is keep your protein intake high much like when your cutting and hopefully then this might limit the mass you lose.

Ps i could have just given you the world’s worst advice as i am completely guessing but it would be my guess i am sure someone will give you a proper answer.

[dope540]

you'll be fine. the time off will give your body some recovery time. you can always train bodyweight and unilateral movements at home, circuits, gymnastic style routines, etc.

you won't lose much after a month off. likely to get crazy doms when you return.

[NU_nutrition_TS]

Pretty much what has already been said above - taking a month off is pretty much at the threshold-point of detraining effects. If, as suggested, you can do some sort of limited/reduced activity/exercise during that period it is likely you will limit any slight losses and probably do yourself some good:

Quote

It doesn’t matter how dedicated the athlete, interruptions from training are inevitable. Periods of inactivity are frequently due to life’s unplanned events. Occasionally these phases are scheduled to avoid overreaching or allow recovery from an onset of overtraining syndrome. Unfortunately, a prolonged reduction in training efforts, or discontinuing all together, can result in a partial or complete reversal of training-induced adaptations. Muscular detraining is the result of marked decreases or cessation of physical activities.

Muscle does not turn to fat, no more than gold can mystically transform into wood. Skeletal muscle has the amazing ability to adapt and reform itself to meet physical demands. It also retains its ability to readjust to reduced physiological stressors during periods of reduced training stimuli or complete training cessation. Increases in fat mass are easily obtained if caloric intake remains elevated; loss of muscle leads to a decrease in basal metabolic rate. Caloric intake must always adjust to current activity levels.

The question progressively-focused bodybuilders frequently try to resolve is: how long is too long for periods of training cessation?

Anaerobic fitness

A review of over 50 studies and over 30 years of research was compiled for the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal, published by the American College of Sports Medicine. The purpose was to collect the data reported in exercise literature concerning the muscular characteristics of detraining, in both highly trained athletes and moderately or recently trained individuals.

Bodybuilders begin many physiological changes once training is stopped. Rapid and progressive reductions in oxidative enzyme activities result in reduced mitochondrial Adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) production; these high energy phosphate molecules are used by the muscles for short bursts of power. Detraining affects are often characterized by a decreased muscle capillary density. This routinely takes place within the initial two to three weeks of training cessation. Arterial-venous oxygen difference also declines if inactivity remains continuous. Oxygen-carrying myoglobin concentration does not seem to be readily affected by training cessation.

According to data reported in exercise science articles, athletes can maintain, or suffer limited loss, in limit strength during short periods of no training. Strength performance in general is readily retained for up to four weeks of inactivity, but highly trained athletes’ eccentric force and sport-specific power may suffer significant declines after two weeks. During eight weeks of training discontinuation, there are decreased proportions of slow-twitch fibers with increased oxidative fibers in strength-trained athletes.

In a study of 12 weight lifters, a 14-day training cessation did not significantly change their one-repetition maximum bench press (-1.7 percent) and squat (-0.9 percent) performance. The authors of the study concluded that briefly inactive strength athletes could maintain many aspects of neuromuscular performance with only slight decreases in eccentric strength.

In another study, 12 weight lifters experienced a 6.4 percent decrease in fast-twitch muscle fiber cross-sectional area in 14 days. Interestingly, increases were observed in plasma concentrations of growth hormone (58.3 percent), testosterone (19.2 percent) and the testosterone-to-cortisol ratio (67.6 percent); cortisol levels decreased by 21.5 percent. The hormone changes would benefit any athlete trying to reverse the negative effects of overtraining syndrome.

Longer periods of training cessation are accompanied by more pronounced declines in limit strength for strength-trained athletes. The loss is limited to around seven to 12 percent for inactive periods lasting eight to 12 weeks. Results show that both muscle atrophy and diminished neural activation are responsible for the decline in maximal force during 12 weeks of inactivity.

Recently acquired strength gains appear to be lost at different rates, depending on the type of strength performance measured. Interestingly, there seems to be a direct relationship with the type of training used prior to the inactive period. One group of researchers reported that functional strength was better preserved during 12 weeks of inactivity after 12 weeks of concentric (muscle contracts while pushing or pulling a load) and eccentric (muscle stretches while resisting a load) resistance training. Performance of eccentric muscle contractions is essential to promote greater and more long-lived neural adaptations to training. Progress from speed-strength training is better maintained during training cessation if the previous training method also focused on developing explosive strength.

Detraining: what happens if you stop exercising? WarriorFX: A bodybuilding and powerlifting guide

[SpiderDan]

How about you see if you can get some free trials at local gyms whilst you are back?

[sh1]

Haha! Your advice is much appreciated and seems to make sense. I'm eating quite a lot (it's Christmas, after all!) and that includes a lot of protein, so hopefully that should help fend off catabolism and help keep my mass for longer.

Best of luck with uni and the exams (assuming you have them).

[sh1]

@dope, thankyou for the response. I do have some weights at home, so I should be able to keep training to a decent level - I was just concerned that I wouldn't be able to push myself quite as hard and my gains may suffer as a result.

And I look forward to the DOMs- you know you've done something right when you can't move the next morning!

Thanks

[sh1]

@NU, very informative post, thankyou! Luckily, I've been focussing on the negative part on the lift a lot, so hopefully that should help me retain my strength better.

The more I think about it, the more I think it wouldn't be too bad to simply go for a lower weight and focus on the eccentric part of the lift - for example, 6-8 second negatives on a chest press to compensate for the slightly lower weight.

Thanks for the post. Very much appreciated

[sh1]

@SpiderDan, thanks for the tip, but unfortunately, the gyms in my area seem to be wise to my penny-pinching ways!

Thanks for the response

[Mart001]

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@NU, very informative post, thankyou! Luckily, I've been focussing on the negative part on the lift a lot, so hopefully that should help me retain my strength better.

The more I think about it, the more I think it wouldn't be too bad to simply go for a lower weight and focus on the eccentric part of the lift - for example, 6-8 second negatives on a chest press to compensate for the slightly lower weight.

Thanks for the post. Very much appreciated

if you have lighter wieght go faster, work the power production and the metabolic conditioning elements, Dope said work on the callesthnitics would be a good idea, look at things like turkish get ups, Dumb bell snatches, hill sprints. wieghted hill sprints. goblet squats to jumps etc I dont think that going slower on the negative will have much of an affect from what I've read, there emay be other examples.

In response to the thread title... Were in the game for years, if you cant get to the gym or do any type of training, 3 weeks out of training who cares.