Strength loss over time
Discussion
Probably not the easiest thing to answer, I suppose it is different for everyone, but how much strength would you expect to lose over a long period of time?
I went to the gym 3 times a week on a strength building workout, that pushed me from feeble to weak. 100kg squat, 110 dead loft sort of level.
In September my son was born so stopped going, so I intended on having a few weeks off, then I tore some ligaments in my ankle, which isn't fully recovered yet, and I've just had the snip.
If I were to start back at the gym in Feb, what would be a realistic aim?
I'm going to have to do cardio as I've pulled weight on since injury, but want to get back building strength. (I've gone from 82kg to almost 88kg in about 10 weeks)
Thanks!
I went to the gym 3 times a week on a strength building workout, that pushed me from feeble to weak. 100kg squat, 110 dead loft sort of level.
In September my son was born so stopped going, so I intended on having a few weeks off, then I tore some ligaments in my ankle, which isn't fully recovered yet, and I've just had the snip.
If I were to start back at the gym in Feb, what would be a realistic aim?
I'm going to have to do cardio as I've pulled weight on since injury, but want to get back building strength. (I've gone from 82kg to almost 88kg in about 10 weeks)
Thanks!
Start out light and focus on perfect form and control. You will re-gain the strength very quickly if you do that. If you go back too heavy and rush it, you'll stall and/or injure yourself.
If I had spent months without squatting at all, I would start like this:
Workout 1: 30kg. Slow eccentric, decent pause at the bottom, controlled concentric. 5 x 8 reps
Workout 2: 40kg.
Workout 3: 50kg
Workout 6: 60kg 5 x 5. Start driving the weight up with a bit more force and speed.
Then play it by ear - if it is insanely easy, add 10kg; if it is moderate, add 5kg, etc etc.
No idea if that is a good plan, but it is what I would do. I would want the 8 rep sets at first to give me more practice in the movement. The weight is low enough that form should not suffer from the slightly higher reps.
If I had spent months without squatting at all, I would start like this:
Workout 1: 30kg. Slow eccentric, decent pause at the bottom, controlled concentric. 5 x 8 reps
Workout 2: 40kg.
Workout 3: 50kg
Workout 6: 60kg 5 x 5. Start driving the weight up with a bit more force and speed.
Then play it by ear - if it is insanely easy, add 10kg; if it is moderate, add 5kg, etc etc.
No idea if that is a good plan, but it is what I would do. I would want the 8 rep sets at first to give me more practice in the movement. The weight is low enough that form should not suffer from the slightly higher reps.
its remarkable how quick it goes.
I hit a 100kg deadlift 3x8, and 3 months later I was down to about 50kg 3x8 with major struggles.
Bench press went from 80kg down to 50kg, I said its amazing how quick it goes, and my trainer replied: I'm amazed how much you kept, I expected you to be at 40kg....
He said you start losing it from about 2 weeks with no training.
Annoying as hell as I'd made pretty decent gains, then just managed to lose a lot and put on fat again. Not amused, and I guess at my age 39 now, it goes FAST especially with a bad diet. Weight went from 84kg to 87.7kg with fat % increasing from about 23% to 31%, so coupled with muscle loss its quite a bit of fat increase. Mind you I was on a super strict diet, and then just moved on to eat pretty much anything.
Today, after some fairly dedicated training this january (mind you I've also been drinking a LOT) I was doing 20kg dumbells for shoulders, and 3 weeks ago I was doing 12kgs, so I guess it can come back fairly quickly.
I hit a 100kg deadlift 3x8, and 3 months later I was down to about 50kg 3x8 with major struggles.
Bench press went from 80kg down to 50kg, I said its amazing how quick it goes, and my trainer replied: I'm amazed how much you kept, I expected you to be at 40kg....
He said you start losing it from about 2 weeks with no training.
Annoying as hell as I'd made pretty decent gains, then just managed to lose a lot and put on fat again. Not amused, and I guess at my age 39 now, it goes FAST especially with a bad diet. Weight went from 84kg to 87.7kg with fat % increasing from about 23% to 31%, so coupled with muscle loss its quite a bit of fat increase. Mind you I was on a super strict diet, and then just moved on to eat pretty much anything.
Today, after some fairly dedicated training this january (mind you I've also been drinking a LOT) I was doing 20kg dumbells for shoulders, and 3 weeks ago I was doing 12kgs, so I guess it can come back fairly quickly.
Edited by HotJambalaya on Tuesday 16th January 22:12
Rule of thumb for strength loss due to non training as opposed to injury in the short term is more than double the time off to get to pre-rest levels. However if you factor in you'll be training hard without rest to recover to your pre-rest strength and you've been off a long time you'll need to add in a few weeks off as well. Further, when you hit your best weights back then you'll have been on a growth curve (ie you'll have not plateaued) so to get to that state will take even longer. This is all assuming no injury, change of lifestyle etc
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