Learn how to stay in shape if you have an unplanned break due to: vacation, overtraining, or lack of time. In the life of each of us there are different situations and it is quite possible that there will be a pause in the classes. In this regard, the question of how not to lose shape without a hall becomes very relevant. Let's immediately determine what weight loss is possible during a pause in training:
- Even if you are in the hospital and bedridden, the mass will not go away for seven days. It may seem outwardly that the muscles have become flabby, but this is due to a loss of tone.
- A pause lasting two or three weeks can lead to a loss of up to 10 percent of power parameters, but the mass remains the same. A decrease in strength is associated with a deterioration in neuro-muscular connections, which must be constantly developed.
- During the planned short break, even an increase in strength parameters is possible, since the potential gained during previous sessions will be revealed.
- Be alert and watch for symptoms of overtraining. Often the athlete notices them too late.
Reasons for pause in training
There are three reasons why an athlete will have to pause training:
- A planned break or overtraining.
- A short break related to, say, a vacation.
- An unplanned pause that could be caused by injury or illness.
Any of the described situations is perceived by an athlete without much enthusiasm, and the third is a tragedy at all. However, not everything in life depends on us and we often have to put up with the feints that fate throws out. Soon you will learn how not to lose shape without a gym, and now we will take a closer look at all three reasons for the appearance of a break in the training process.
Scheduled pause
Often, professional athletes take pauses before starting in tournaments. After several weeks of intense training, you can safely rest for 4 to 8 days. However, during this period of time, active rest, which makes it possible to achieve an increase in the concentration of testosterone, the nervous system will fully recover, the glycogen depot is replenished.
We can safely say that in such a situation the body begins to function much better and the athlete approaches the competition in excellent shape. Some athletes are sure that at this moment the strength parameters increase. However, in practice, this is not entirely so, and the results that were achieved by an athlete in training are simply manifested. Against the background of general fatigue, strength indicators cannot fully manifest themselves, and the athlete shows from 80 to 90 percent of his capabilities.
If you have already passed the stage of a beginner athlete, then you should train so that fatigue constantly accumulates and this will allow you to progress. During intense training, the athlete cannot show all that he is capable of. As soon as you rest for seven days, the fatigue will pass and it will be possible to demonstrate everything that your body is capable of. However, we do not recommend completely abandoning training during the planned pause, as the neuro-muscular connections will deteriorate.
Break when overtraining
With hard intense training, the build-up of fatigue is normal. However, this process can develop into overtraining, which should not be allowed. If you find yourself in a similar situation, then you will have to take a break for the body to recover. If you notice the first symptoms of overtraining, then we recommend doing the following:
- For seven days, give up heavy training so that the body can restore its resources.
- It is necessary to introduce more protein compounds and peptides into the diet.
- Reduce your coffee intake and consult your doctor about the use of nootropics. These medications will help you speed up the healing process of your nervous system.
- After a pause, resume your activities, but they should be short for 20 minutes. Perform one movement per day for five sets, each of which will have 3 to 5 repetitions.
Short scheduled break
If you are planning a family vacation trip or a business trip, you will have to take a break from your studies. In such a situation, you can give some advice to those athletes who are afraid to lose their shape:
- As mentioned at the beginning of the article, if you are healthy, then for seven days your athletic performance will remain unchanged. It will seem to you that the strength is falling, and the muscle mass is leaving, but this is not so. The nervous system will begin to work less actively and this will lead to a slight decrease in muscle tone. Also, the body will eliminate all inflammatory processes during the pause. We repeat once again that do not believe your feelings, you do not lose shape.
- A small amount of weight can be lost if the downtime is about two weeks. However, do not panic, because the losses will be minimal, and you will very quickly return to your previous shape.
- Strength indicators may decrease more significantly, but the whole point is in a decrease in the activity of the nervous system. After returning to classes for a week, everything will return to normal. In such a situation, you should not look for an answer to the question of how not to lose shape without a gym.
- If you know in advance that you will have to take a break in class for two or three weeks, then do a series of high-intensity sessions for the same time frame. Your task is to increase stress and for this it is enough to increase the volume of work done by 50 percent. As a result, the body will be forced to recover during the pause, and not regress. At the same time, the intensity of the classes does not need to be increased.
Unplanned pause
Sometimes we are forced to skip workouts and it is beyond our power to avoid this pause. It is in such a situation that athletes are most often interested in the question of how not to lose shape without a gym. Let's talk about the potential losses first. It is impossible to give exact numbers, since everything depends on the athlete himself. However, there are patterns worth knowing about.
The more time you spent on achieving a certain result, the longer they will stay with you. If you've trained consistently for five years or more, you have laid an excellent foundation for gaining mass and increasing strength. In such a situation, the form will not be lost so actively. There are cases when an athlete trained for 15 years, and then was forced to miss 4 years of training. After returning to the gym, it took him a couple of months to regain its former shape.
From this point of view, it is much more difficult for novice athletes. If the training experience is about a year or a little more, then a break in classes for more than six months can lead to serious losses. Novice builders will have to spend more time to get back in shape.
When answering the question of how not to lose shape without a gym, the type of training is no less important. If you do no more than three repetitions in each set, then the losses will be more significant compared to an athlete working in a multi-repetition mode. This fact is due to the fact that the strength parameters obtained by such training largely depend on the work of the nervous system.
It is quite obvious that during a pause, the central nervous system begins to work with less intensity. If the athlete uses a multi-repetition regime, that his performance will be more stable. Also note that your physical activity during a pause has a great effect on losing shape. If you move a little and at the same time do not adhere to the previous nutrition program, then the losses can be very significant.
We can safely say that in one week of downtime, you will not lose anything at all. In this case, the muscles will lose their tone somewhat, and the reserves of glycogen will decrease. However, after the resumption of training, all these losses will be compensated very quickly. If the pause lasts about three weeks, then the shape will not be lost. But when you have not been training for more than three months, the situation will be completely different.
However, do not forget about the individuality of each person. Once again, I want to say that you should not stop doing other useful things when you stop exercising. The more active you are during the pause, the less losses will be, and after returning to training, they will be compensated faster.
How not to lose shape without training in the gym?
Many athletes make one mistake during pauses in the training process - they stop not only training. But also do other necessary things. Now we are talking about a nutrition program, violation of the daily regimen and refusal of sports nutrition taken during training. The logic of such an act is very simple - after the resumption of the training, I will do my best to return the lost form in a short time.
As soon as I start my studies, I will start doing everything right. It is this behavior that leads to the most significant losses. You must remember that during the pause, you must do the same as during the training. This will help you avoid fat gain and minimize loss of shape. So our first piece of advice to all bodybuilders who have to skip workouts is to do the same things as in class.
It is imperative that you adhere to your nutritional program, try to work more physically and do not forget about sports nutrition. And now a few more tips for those who want to know how not to lose shape without a gym:
- Try to find every workout opportunity, albeit not as intense as before. Better two sessions a week for 10 minutes than nothing at all. Every rep you make in the exercise will help you maintain mass. If you are injured, do whatever movements you can. Don't assume light training is useless.
- Since during a pause you do not spend a lot of energy, it is worth revising your diet in the direction of reducing its energy value. You must do everything you can to avoid gaining fat mass. Remember, there are two things that determine your body constitution. If you are unable to gain muscle mass at the moment, eliminate the accumulation of fat.
- Increase the amount of protein compounds in the diet to increase the anabolic background.
- Try to be as active as possible. Even simple walks can help you minimize losses.
- Forced pause provides you with an excellent opportunity to learn something new from the world of "iron sports". Read books and specialized magazines.
For more on how to stay fit when you exercise less, see below:
