Use It or Lose It!

I am sure most of us have heard that little ditty, but is it true? Turns out when it comes to exercise it is! Researchers put new exercisers on a conditioning program for eight weeks, which resulted in dramatic improvements in cardiovascular fitness and aerobic capacity. After the eight week period they stopped exercising altogether for another eight weeks, then tested them again. The results? They lost all their aerobic gains and returned to their original fitness levels – not cool! Other studies have shown that deconditioning can occur in as little as three weeks!

The take home? If you want lifelong fitness, training has to be a lifelong pursuit. Regular exercise (3 or more times a week) is best, but  your gains can be maintained with as little as two days a week of hard training. Spring is here and summer is coming, but training doesn’t stop. Coach Nancy rightly says that we train hard so we can get out and hike, and bike, and garden, and do other outdoor activities without being miserable the next day. It’s always cool when a client comes up to us (like happened 3 or 4 times to just me in the last couple weeks) and says “I (gardened, packed all my stuff because I am moving, chopped firewood) and I wasn’t sore because of the training we do at bootcamp”. There’s nothing like a hard days work and having energy to spare!

Your health and fitness doesn’t take a vacation. Your lungs keep breathing and your heart keeps pumping. Without exercise your muscles get flabby which makes you crabby. 🙂

Start planning now to keep fitness in your life all year long!

Make It Happen,
Coach Dean