Not exercising?  Here’s how your body pays the price

A regular, consistent exercise routine is one of the best lifestyle habits your body requires for good health.  One of the worst things you can do is to stop exercising – at all.  Maybe you’ve sustained an injury or maybe life stressors have displaced your physical activity regimen.  Or maybe you’ve become bored or disinterested in keeping yourself physically fit. 

Whatever the reasons for taking an exercise hiatus – temporarily or permanent – consider the effect that decision will have on your body.  Even if you consider yourself in great physical conditioning, it doesn’t take long for those hard-earned gains to dwindle in as little as two weeks. 

Here’s how an exercise pause can cause a cascade of negative effects within the body both internally and externally:

·      In 10 days – brain changes

Exercising keeps our brain in shape just as much as it does our bodies.  Movement is good for the brain and taking a vacation from your workout can lead to possible changes and consequences to brain health. 

Regular exercise can enhance the birth of new neurons helping them to live longer.  Our hippocampus, an area of the brain critical for learning and memory is sensitive to environmental factors like stress and exercise.  A study in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience reviewed what happened when a group of long-term endurance runners stopped exercising for 10 days.  Results from MRIs showed a reduction in blood flow to the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with memory and emotion.  The endurance training looks to help trigger a biochemical flood helping our brain create new neurons that survive, enhancing brain plasticity while maintain our memory and cognitive skills. 

·      In 2 weeks – endurance drops

Feeling a little winded when climbing stairs?  It doesn’t take long and that’s what can happen if you decide to quit your exercise routine.  The reason - foregoing breaking out in a sweat causes a drop in your VO2 max, a measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise. This measurement can drop by about 10% in just two weeks of no workouts.  And if you continue a break from working out, it only gets worse. After 4 weeks, your V02 can drop by about 15% and after 3 months, it can fall about 20%. 

To prevent this, obviously regular exercise is important.  If a person can stay even just slightly active, it can prevent a major reduction in V02 max.  One 2009 study found that male kayakers who took a five-week break from their training experienced a 11.3% drop on average in their V02 max, while those who worked in a handful of exercise sessions during each week only experienced a 5.6% drop. 

You may not necessarily notice a change in your speed or strength but you could experience a sharp rise in blood pressure and blood glucose levels.  A 2015 study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that people who worked out for 8 months doing resistance and aerobic exercise saw an improvement in their blood glucose levels but when they had 14 days of inactivity, almost half of them lost those benefits. 

·      In 4 weeks – strength declines

Declines in strength can begin within about 2 weeks of inactivity but by 4 weeks of little movement, there will be a more noticeable reduction in loss of muscle strength. Muscle strength tends to diminish at a slower rate than endurance but will continue to gradually slip as time goes on. 

·      In 8  weeks – increased body fat

Within 2 months of not exercising is when you may expect to see visible physical changes.  You look in the mirror and you will notice some weight gain.  Your clothes have become snug and the number of pounds you’ve gained is reflected on the number that appears on a weight scale. 

An increase in body fat is a consequence of not exercising.  A 2012 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that competitive swimmers who took a five-week break from training saw a 12% increase in body fat along with an increase in body weight and waist circumference.  Another study in 2016 found that elite Taekwondo athletes who took an eight-week exercise break experienced an increase in levels of levels of body fat and a reduction in muscle mass. 

How to slow losses in fitness

There can be times when cutting back on a fitness routine is necessary.   Being diagnosed with a serious illness, injury, or physical exhaustion can put a temporary stop to your normal routine. 

When forced to abandon being physically active for more than 2 weeks, attempt to try getting in several short workout sessions.  For instance, walking around your house for 10 minutes, stair climbing, chair exercises, or jumping rope or jumping jacks, can be better than doing nothing at all.  Sneaking in small bursts of movement can be a good way to maintain aerobic fitness. 

The last thing to do is to completely quit moving at all – your heart, brain, muscles, and waistline depend on you to keep them in good working order.