How fast you lose fitness

[Drawweight]

I retired 6 months ago at 65 from a pretty physical job with a lot of walking.

I used to sit on my wife’s exercise bike and peddle a bit just for a laugh.

A couple of km and I’d get bored and stop as to be honest I could never see the point in cycling and going nowhere.

Yesterday I sat on it and had a go. 0.4 km and the fronts of my legs were killing me and I was starting to get breathless. I hadn’t realised how quickly my muscles would go. Admittedly I’ve done very little physical exercise since I retired but I’m going to have to buck my ideas up.

[joshleb]

It is surprising how quick it happens!

I damaged my knee a few years ago and was on the sofa for a few weeks, amazing how much more skin I could grab around the thigh of my bad leg compared to my good one just after a couple of those weeks!

[Anonymous-poster]

48 hours.

[matt666]

Really quickly. I've not done much for the last week and half due to the heat and I can really feel it now. Same happens when I go on holiday, a week away and I'm an out of breath mess when I get back. Plus side is it comes back fairly quickly.

[MOBB]

Mid 2018 I could do a 5k in under 25 mins and cycle on the road comfortably at 17.5mph average. Also did a 96 mile ride that year and a couple of duathlons.

Not spectacular but I was proud of it after 30 years of idleness.

Late 2018 I injured myself. Neck issue, no running or cycling for 3 months.

I haven't got close to those stats since, probably currently 35 mins 5k and 15mph now. Mind you I weigh 2 stone more now. Sooooo much harder.

When you are fit, keep it as it goes quickly :-(

[Hoofy]

Yes, it's quite scary. I use my gym bike to keep my fitness up when I can't get on court.

[Prof Prolapse]

Does anyone else find you deteriorate faster as you get older?

I'm the fittest I've been, but by christ I need to work to keep it.

[Spearmansam]

My parents are in their 70’s and bought them some dumbbells last Xmas . Whilst they are light there is no doubt in my mind they are being more athletic than they otherwise would have been. Seems to do more good than just aerobic activity

[David_M]

Prof Prolapse said:

Does anyone else find you deteriorate faster as you get older?

Yes, sadly. And it also feels much harder and takes longer to get fitter/stronger than I remember from 15 years ago.

[hyphen]

You start losing muscle after a month of not pushing it.

Which is a pain - if only we could go to the gym and the results lasted for life!

[popeyewhite]

joshleb said:

It is surprising how quick it happens!

I damaged my knee a few years ago and was on the sofa for a few weeks, amazing how much more skin I could grab around the thigh of my bad leg compared to my good one just after a couple of those weeks!

That's muscle atrophy, not much to do with fitness except it's hard to exercise a weak leg.

[popeyewhite]

matt666 said:

Really quickly. I've not done much for the last week and half due to the heat and I can really feel it now. Same happens when I go on holiday, a week away and I'm an out of breath mess when I get back. Plus side is it comes back fairly quickly.

You lose repetition ability quicker than strength, and CV fitness can take as much as 6 months to disappear completely. There's a basic formula for losing weight training fitness when away. It's something like double the holiday time, then double that to get to the point where you might be improving at the same rate as pre-holiday. So 1 week off = 4 weeks before you're improving at the rate you were pre-holiday.There's a cut-of point at about 6 weeks away, where you will cease to lose strength/muscle as daily tasks keep lean mass relatively stable.

[popeyewhite]

David_M said:

Prof Prolapse said:

Does anyone else find you deteriorate faster as you get older?

Yes, sadly. And it also feels much harder and takes longer to get fitter/stronger than I remember from 15 years ago.

Declining levels of testosterone, joints become stiffer, ligaments shorten, bone density drops and recovery takes longer. It's horrid.

[gareth h]

popeyewhite said:

Declining levels of testosterone, joints become stiffer, ligaments shorten, bone density drops and recovery takes longer. It's horrid.

Thanks for the good news!

[MC Bodge]

popeyewhite said:

You lose repetition ability quicker than strength, and CV fitness can take as much as 6 months to disappear completely. There's a basic formula for losing weight training fitness when away. It's something like double the holiday time, then double that to get to the point where you might be improving at the same rate as pre-holiday. So 1 week off = 4 weeks before you're improving at the rate you were pre-holiday.There's a cut-of point at about 6 weeks away, where you will cease to lose strength/muscle as daily tasks keep lean mass relatively stable.

Why do people completely stop training when they go on holiday?

[MC Bodge]

popeyewhite said:

David_M said:

Prof Prolapse said:

Does anyone else find you deteriorate faster as you get older?

Yes, sadly. And it also feels much harder and takes longer to get fitter/stronger than I remember from 15 years ago.

Declining levels of testosterone, joints become stiffer, ligaments shorten, bone density drops and recovery takes longer. It's horrid.

Sad isn't it? At 43, I'm just trying to maintain my condition for as long as I can, with a mix of running, cycling, strength & conditioning (Maces, kettlebells, sandbags, calisthenics) and striking training.

I'm a reasonable (for an 81Kg veteran jack of all trades) 5K runner, but my speed drops off very quickly if I stop doing 3-4 (different intensity) runs a week.

[popeyewhite]

MC Bodge said:

Why do people completely stop training when they go on holiday?

Until I was 40 I would say i don't know, it's madness. But now I realise the true benefit of of a rest/active recovery protocol. so plenty of swimming, drinking beer by the sea, and a little seafood.

[popeyewhite]

MC Bodge said:

Sad isn't it? At 43, I'm just trying to maintain my condition for as long as I can, with a mix of running, cycling, strength & conditioning (Maces, kettlebells, sandbags, calisthenics) and striking training.

I'm a reasonable (for an 81Kg veteran jack of all trades) 5K runner, but my speed drops off very quickly if I stop doing 3-4 (different intensity) runs a week.

It will, unless you prioritise your running. But that way lies either overtraining or not enough recovery (not quite the same thing in my book), if you are unable to tone down the other stuff (I'm guilty of this) and continue to train hard at the weights, calisthenics etc... .

[popeyewhite]

gareth h said:

popeyewhite said:

Declining levels of testosterone, joints become stiffer, ligaments shorten, bone density drops and recovery takes longer. It's horrid.

Thanks for the good news!

[Legacywr]

After only 2 weeks sat on a hospital bed, your muscles have almost completely gone