What Happens When You Stop Exercising
What happens when you stop exercising: from heart diseases and diabetes to fat gain and depression.
There are lots of reasons for taking a break from going to the gym or exercising at home — family obligations, harsh weather, work demands, holiday, etc. Even the most committed fitness enthusiasts have to stop for a while because of injury, sore muscles, or illness.
It isn’t necessary to exercise every day because your body needs to recover and rest to repair muscles and strengthen itself. However, if you go more than a week without exercise, you start experiencing the effects of “detraining” (deconditioning).
Detraining is a process in which you lose the advantageous effects of training. In contrast to rest, and recovery, detraining is actually an extended interval of rest that, leads to reduced physical fitness. The upside is that it can be reversed, by getting active again.
We have discussed what happens when you stop exercising in our article. If you want to learn about the consequences your body suffers from, after you stop working out, then read till the end:
Possible Rise in Blood Pressure
Lowered blood pressure is a famous perk of regular exercise. What's more, exercise is a medically accepted change in lifestyle to cure hypertension (1). A research that studied the blood pressure responses of men with prehypertension observed a reduction in blood pressure within a 6-month training period and an increase after 2 weeks of inactive.
Stopping exercise doesn’t mean you will get high blood pressure. However, if you suffer from hypertension, it’s important for you to see a doctor if you’ve been utilising exercise to decrease your blood pressure, and you foreknow a period of inactivity.
Increased Risk of Heart Disease
Studies have reported that blood vessels start to stiffen after 2 weeks of inactivity causing a rise in blood pressure. As the blood pressure rises, the cells of the inner lining of arteries get damaged. With the artery walls getting less elastic, the blood doesn’t flow freely to the heart, resulting in irregular heart rhythms, chest pains, and even heart attack.
In addition to that, high blood pressure can cause weakening of heart muscles, which affects its work efficiency, and leads to heart failure.
Drop in Energy Levels
Do you feel tired throughout the day? What you need is not a lot of sleep but some exercise to wake you up, from the inside. According to a study (2), aerobic exercise training can cause a decrease in fatigue.
Simple exercises like taking the stairs, walking, and standing provide your body with much-needed adrenaline to keep you alert and fresh even when you are working from home. So, rather than sitting down all day, stand up and take a walk to improve blood circulation in your body.
Elevated Blood Sugar
Exercise is an effective method to decrease blood glucose levels, but if you stop exercising your blood sugar can remain elevated after you have eaten.
According to a study (3), published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, as little as 30 minutes per day of doing moderate-intensity physical activity can decrease, the occurrence of, type 2 diabetes. The consequence of staying inactive is that increased glucose levels increase your chance of diabetes and heart disease.
The positive side? Even a small amount of exercise improves glucose regulation. Getting back to a routine can help ward off preventable health issues.
You Can Gain Fat
When you stop exercising, you’ll start noticing a physical change in your body after about six weeks.
According to a 2012 study published in Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (4) swimmers who took a 5-week pause from their training regime felt a 12% increase in body fat, and experienced a boost in waist circumference and body weight.
That being said, there is a difference between taking some rest and breaking up with exercise for good. You have to do some sort of activity every day. Just don't stop moving altogether and your body, waistline, and brain will thank you.
Also Read: 12 Fat Burning Exercises to Lose Weight at Home
Higher Risk of Depression
Exercising releases endorphins that make you feel good. Stopping exercise has negative effects on health, and mood changes can be first of them. Your brain will start to change, and you may experience brain fog or not feel as enthusiastic and cheerful.
This happens because the brain does not get as much blood being delivered to the hippocampus as it would if you were working out. One study (5) from the University of Adelaide reported that quitting exercise can increase depressive symptoms, in a person, after just three days.
VO2 Max Drops
VO2 max is the maximum oxygen you can get into your body’s system. It’s important because it determines your performance potential and cardio capacity. A research study (6), published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, uncovered hard numbers to make a timeline for VO2 drop-off. After 12 days, it decreased an average of 7% in test subjects, but remained steady up to 21 days after the individuals’ last workout. By 56 days, VO2 max had lowered around 14%, and then it hit a 16% decline after 84 days.
However, VO2 max isn’t everything. You also need to put that oxygen to use. So, look at what you gained previously to calculate where you’ll stand after a lengthy break.
Final Takeaway
If you have stopped doing regular exercise, you should start getting back to your routine to stay active. While it is difficult to tell how long it’ll take to get back to your previous level of fitness, it won’t take you as long to get back to your peak fitness as it did to get fit in the start. Just do not adopt a sedentary way of life.
Keep in mind that persistence, and patience, is key. Remember, not all is lost, you can still regain your fitness. Consider detraining a part of your fitness journey. Stay motivated!
Also Read: How To Stay Fit & Healthy With These Simple Tips!
References
(1) MacDonald, Jay Robert. "Potential causes, mechanisms, and implications of post exercise hypotension." Journal of human hypertension 16.4 (2002): 225-236
(2) Weinstein, Ali A., et al. "Effect of aerobic exercise training on fatigue and physical activity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension." Respiratory medicine 107.5 (2013): 778-784.
(3) Bassuk, Shari S., and JoAnn E. Manson. "Epidemiological evidence for the role of physical activity in reducing risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease." Journal of applied physiology (2005).
(4) Ormsbee, Michael J., and Paul J. Arciero. "Detraining increases body fat and weight and decreases V [combining dot above] O2peak and metabolic rate." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 26.8 (2012): 2087-2095.
(5) University of Adelaide. "Stopping exercise can increase symptoms of depression." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 March 2018. .
(6) Coyle, Edward F., et al. "Time course of loss of adaptations after stopping prolonged intense endurance training." Journal of Applied Physiology 57.6 (1984): 1857-1864.
