By Doc | Stronger Personal Training
If I could wave a magic wand, I would rid most people of the chaotic mess that is health and fitness.
We hope the journey is on the straight and narrow, only to find ourselves lost, off track, confused, and wondering “how in the hell did I get here.”
And when we fall off the metaphorical horse, it just runs away leaving us dusty and mangled. Because getting back in the gym can be harder than initially showing up in the first place.
Eventually I hear I’m basically starting at zero. Not quite. In fact, you’re at a WAYYY BETTER advantage than previous and I’m here to show you how.
What Actually Happens When You Take Time Off
When we decide to hit the break and put the car in park, a few things happen inside our meat sacks. For one, our nervous system loses its efficiency. The whole “if you don’t use it, you lose it” is kinda true, but it’s not lost forever.
Ever try to throw a ball or get on a bike after a brief hiatus? You can do it, but it ain’t pretty. That’s your motor system telling you it’s been on sabbatical.
The same is true for working out. You didn’t lose your strength, your body just needs a kick start (2-6 weeks) to get things back. Something it took you six months to achieve.
For instance, one of our members Cindy is strong like bull. She kicks major butt while in here and will turn a few heads during deadlifts.
Then she went to Europe for three weeks.
When she came back, she looked like new born bull instead. Add in long flights and less than optimal fueling and she was far from throwing weight off the floor.
What About Your Muscle
Something else I hear is I feel flabby and weak.
Well you might be, but not for the reason you think. Have you ever heard that you don’t actually gain muscle in the first two months, it’s just neurological. Eh, kinda.
When we start working out – water, electrolytes, minerals, and glucose are driven into the muscle like a piss missile. The body is adapting to the demand. This is (kinda) muscle building though new cells and growth haven’t happened yet.
When we stop working out – water, sugars, and salt are no longer as necessary in the muscle. So it gets smaller and you “appear” less toned. Don’t shoot the messenger, but your gains haven’t left the building.
Another example. One of our members, Jase, finally lost enough weight and wanted to focus on building muscle. He was happy with how he looked and felt fuller in all the right places.
All good and well, until life decided to throw a curveball (as life does). His work schedule surged and we didn’t see him much for six weeks. His weight dropped, and those shirts just hung on him.
Homie was not happy. All that work just gone?
Pump the brakes Jase.
After a month of being back, getting his sleep on track, and nutrition dialed in he was back to new and improved Jase (we just had to talk him off the ledge a little).
But I gained all this weight…
Our member Molly recently went on vacation. She was crushing her weight loss progress and wanted to give herself a little break.
Credit to her, she kept a positive mind and knew what to expect when she got back.
And expect she did. The scale weight was up. But why?
The standard American diet is anything but shy on salt. When we clean it up, the sodium we’re used to consuming goes down, as does water weight. Hence why many can lose weight on the quick fix diets. But that’s all it is. Water weight.
Once your body is used to lower sodium, those vacation meals and drinks throw off fluid balance and leave you feeling 5-10lbs heavier. Not to mention the extra food and electrolytes will leave your muscles fuller with the added recovery. This is good even though Satan’s doom box says otherwise.
You’re still good, don’t worry. Have another piña colada.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, many factors go into you “losing your gains.” They didn’t go anywhere, your body just adjusted. Think of it like a savings and checking account. We just moved money around, but it’s still available for withdrawal.
However, that doesn’t mean you can go full send in the gym after a long break. Anything more than a week and we have some adjusting to do.
In the next blog, we’ll tackle how to properly get back on track without breaking yourself into pieces.
Until then, it’s important to realize this is a lifelong endeavor. Speaking to myself, we treat health and fitness like there’s one start and finish line.
There’s not.
There’s check-points, mile markers, and micro-wins that we need to look for and embrace.
If you find this difficult, you’re not alone. Many of our members faced the same thing. That’s why we are constantly checking in, adjusting, and encouraging to make sure you don’t fall off track.
If you find yourself back at square one and not sure how to start without breaking yourself — reply and let’s map it out together.
See you for Part Deux!
-Doc