Interesting stuff regarding personal fitness levels.
We’re all guilty of missing a few gym sessions as laziness creeps in, but how long does it actually take to lose your fitness?
That’s the question that Kelly Bowden Davies and by Dr Dan Cuthbertson, University of Liverpool, aimed to answer during their recent research.
In their study, they discovered that it only takes two weeks without regular exercise to cause a significant loss in muscle mass.
The methodology they used involved a group of 28 healthy and physically active people with an average age of 25 years and a mean BMI of 25 kg/m2.
At the start of this research process, the participants were asked to walk an average of 10,000 steps per day.
During this period, the researchers measured their physical fitness levels, fat and muscle mass.
Over the next two weeks, the participants kept their diet the same, but they reduced their physical activity by 80% or more.
At the end of the study, it was discovered that these 28 people had gained fat, mainly around the stomach are, while losing muscle. They also had higher cholesterol levels and were unable to run for a long duration.
“A substantial loss in skeletal muscle mass was also noted, with a reduction in both total (whole body) lean mass (average loss 0.36kg) and leg lean mass (average loss 0.21kg),” it states.
Dr Cuthbertson adds: “just two weeks of inactivity in young healthy people can reduce muscle mass and produce metabolic changes that could lead to an increased risk of developing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and potentially premature death.”
He does provide a degree of optimism though by saying: “the effects were entirely reversible—so it’s fine if you’re fit and well and you go on holiday for two weeks and then you get right back to normal. But the problem is that many people don’t reverse back to these levels of activity, and then perhaps the effects will accumulate.”
