Holiday Downtime from Exercise Makes It Tougher to Get Back in Shape
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — This is the time of year to eat, drink and be merry, and the heck with working out.
However, fitness expert Pete Magill says that you might be fooling yourself if you think that just a week off from the gym to partake in excess food and drink isn’t going to set you back too much.
Magill, a six-time masters national cross-country champion, maintains that one’s body strength and endurance can deteriorate by as much as fifty percent from seven days away from the gym.
His warning is backed by exercise physiologist Jason Karp, who tells Shape magazine, “When we exercise, we stimulate the synthesis of proteins, like mitochondria and enzymes, to meet the demand we place on our bodies. When we stop exercising, we eliminate the demand, so we start to lose our supply.”
What’s more, people who focus on cardiovascular training, that is, aerobic exercise, are more likely to see declines than those whose concentration is weight training.
Sorry to ruin your holidays.
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