There are many reasons why you can get “out of shape”. From injuries to weakening of motivationit’s natural for your fitness to ebb and flow. The good news is that whether you’ve always been an athlete or have never been able to stick to an exercise routine, there are some proven methods to help you get fit again.
What does “being fit” really mean?
Physiologically speaking, being physically fit implies a holistic view of several factors: cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, mobility (including flexibility and range of motion) and neuromuscular control (i.e. balance and agility), he explains. Heather Miltoncertified clinical exercise physiologist at NYU Langone Sports Performance Center.
Anecdotally, being physically fit will look and feel different for everyone, but it can often mean that you have good energy, that you feel strong, that you can perform daily tasks without pain, that you are mentally clear, and that you generally just feel healthy and happy .
This subjectivity can mean that getting back into shape will involve different goals for different people. “Does being ‘fit’ mean you can walk to your job all day and still have the energy to play with your kids, or does it mean you can tackle a new mountain bike trail without injury?” he says Jacqueline CrockfordACE certified personal trainer. Understanding your why will help you maintain the motivation needed to support your goals long-term.
The good news is that there are steps anyone can follow to improve their overall fitness. Here’s what you can expect.
How fast can you lose fitness?
To understand how to effectively get back in shape, it helps to know how quickly your initial results can fade. You can actually lose cardio endurance and muscle strength with two weeks of complete rest, says Milton. That doesn’t mean you’ll lose all your gains after two weeks, but that’s when you can expect the start of a decline, she says. In general, cardio endurance declines more slowly than muscular strength and endurance, which have a fairly rapid decline when you stop training, Crockford adds.
Loss of physical fitness can cause blood pressure to rise, blood oxygen levels to decrease, decreased neural-muscular efficiency and heart power, decreased lung capacity, and even a change in resting heart rate, Milton explains.
Age is also an important factor to consider, says Crockford. Maximal oxygen uptake (or VO2max), muscle strength and mass, and flexibility naturally decrease with aging, while total body mass and adipose tissue increase, according to a 2009 study published in European Review of Aging and Physical Activity.
How quickly can you get fit again?
On average, if you strictly follow a strategically designed, evidence-based fitness program—meaning you’ve done your homework and stick to a specific plan—you can expect to regain your fitness in 16 weeks, Milton says. Muscle strength can begin to improve in four to six weeks with visible results in 12 weeks. Improvements in cardio also follow a linear pattern, with small changes progressing bit by bit over time, she says.
“However, it is in a vacuum,” cautions Milton. This doesn’t take into account lifestyle factors such as changes in weight, diet, health or hydration, for example – all of which can drastically affect how long it takes you to get fit again.
“The rate at which someone regains fitness, both in muscular and cardiorespiratory measures, depends on several factors including programming, previous fitness levels and exercise experience, as well as age,” says Crockford. How long you’ve been off exercise also matters, Milton says. If it’s been a few weeks or even a few months, that’s a big difference than a few years. “If it’s been less than a year, you start back at maybe 50 percent of where you left off and slowly work your way back up from there,” she says.
How to get back in shape after a break
The first step is to set a clear and, ideally, measurable goal. Simply saying you want to “get back in shape” could lead to a haphazard approach to training that will ultimately take you longer to reach your goals—if you don’t get frustrated and withdraw along the way, says Milton.
The most important thing to remember when getting back into your exercise routine is to keep your pace. This is especially true if you’ve been mostly inactive (rather than just choosing lower-intensity modalities), are coming back from an injury, or are older.
Older adults have more years of exercise experience, so it may be wiser for them to get into a renewed routine, says Milton, but conversely, if you also want to avoid the same strenuous exercises you did when you were younger. Bodies change over time, and it’s okay if your version of shape looks different in your 40s than it did in your 20s, she says.
Steadily progressing in difficulty will ensure you stay on track while avoiding injury or exhaustion, says Milton. Cardio exercises can be increased by total training volume, meaning that if you have been running successfully for three hours a week, you can increase the length of your total weekly time spent running. Strength-based training progression can look like doing more reps using the same weight or grabbing a heavier weight while doing the same reps, Milton adds. Bodyweight max-rep tests—think: how many push-ups you can do in a minute—are also a good all-around strength-building tactic. The bottom line is that you can get back in shape, but it probably won’t happen overnight. Small, smart steps will lead to the results you’re looking for over time, so practicing patience is a necessary component.
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