Getting back In Shape

[Toks]

This is for the older competitive types amongst you (sorry Adam and Stu). If you've ever taken three weeks or more completely off the bike how long did it take before you regained all/most of the fitness you lost. Assuming you can get a few rides in a week when I spoke to Keith at the club dinner and he reckoned about a month. I'd be especially interested to hear what Huw thinks. I'm on my fifth ride since returning from holiday and my form still stinks. And believe me I'm taking things Andrew 'Steady' Greenish.

[kieran]

just give up and enjoy the social side of cycling:

[url]http://www.ctc.org.uk/[/url]

[Andrew G]

For 3 weeks off I don't think it would take too long, unless those weeks were spent sitting down stuffing crisps down your face. I'm guessing you were still reasonably active during that time and I don't have you down as a beach lounging sun worshipper, or are you?

I'd have thought your basic fitness wasn't too badly hurt maybe just lost some of the zip you may have had in your legs beforehand.

[Robh]

From Juerg :-

"Effects of detraining on the major physiological systems "

Cardio-respiratory detraining :-
Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) has been shown to decline by anything from 4-20% with inactivity of two weeks or more (2-5).

With detraining of endurance-trained athletes blood volume is reduced by 5-12% within the first two days (6). This reduction in blood volume is the primary reason for the observed rapid decline in cardiovascular function (4). As a direct result there is a decrease in cardiac output (amount of blood pumped per minute) and stroke volume (amount of blood pumped per beat) with an attendant increase in heart rate during submaximal exercise – consistent with the equation

Respiratory function is also altered with inactivity. Maximal voluntary ventilation has been shown to decrease by 10-14%, while in the longer term the ventilatory response to increasing carbon dioxide levels increases after two years without training. It also appears that the energy cost of breathing is increased with detraining as increasingly more blood flow is ‘stolen’ by respiratory muscles working at more than 55% of forced vital capacity (7,8).

Metabolic detraining:-
Respiratory exchange ratio (RER) is calculated from the amount of oxygen consumed versus the amount of carbon dioxide produced during exercise, and gives an indication of which fuels (fat, carbohydrate and protein) predominate. After detraining has occurred, there’s a comparative increase in the amount of carbohydrate used as fuel during both maximal and submaximal exercise, with less energy derived from fat (12,14).

As a consequence of hard training at or close to lactate threshold for a number of weeks, two main adaptations occur providing evidence of improved endurance: reduced submaximal blood lactate and a higher exercise intensity before lactate threshold is reached (see box below). However, with detraining the opposite occurs, and higher blood-lactate concentrations have been measured in swimmers and in endurance-trained runners and cyclists at a lower percentage of VO2max after just a few days of inactivity. However, when compared to sedentary individuals, those previously highly trained still have a lactate threshold at a higher percentage of their VO2max, even after detraining."

[Toks]

Thanks Rob, that was a good breakdown. Is there a link for more info. Andrew, I just read books, ate loads of food, drank and took things real easy. So we'll see. Oh and you'll be right about me not spending too much time topping up my tan

[Robh]

A quick find on google and here's the whole article :- http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/detraining.htm

[Andrew G]

[quote="Toks"] Oh and you'll be right about me not spending too much time topping up my tan

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Unconfirmed, non scientific survey - just going by my experience - period to get back to full fitness was roughly 3 times the period of inactivity.

Guru P

[Jon H]

[quote="mrP(Boonen)VT"]Unconfirmed, non scientific survey - just going by my experience - period to get back to full fitness was roughly 3 times the period of inactivity.

Guru P

[quote="Jon Hemming"][quote="mrP(Boonen)VT"]Unconfirmed, non scientific survey - just going by my experience - period to get back to full fitness was roughly 3 times the period of inactivity.

Guru P