Daily Fit Tip!

Use it or Lose it!

The phrase “use or lose it” can elicit fear in people who are just beginning their fitness or weight-loss journey. “If I take a week off, will I have to start over at square one?” It’s a fact that when you stop training you can quickly lose what you’ve worked so hard for.
  Within as little as two weeks, cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and muscular endurance can be lost. Of course, there are many factors that influence how fast your fitness level will decrease, including how fit you were when you stopped exercising and for how long and hard you’ve been training for. 

Highly trained athletes will take longer than poorly trained people to become detrained because of the magnitude of their initial fitness. It may take months for a competitive athlete, whereas a less fit person can start losing their fitness level within days or weeks.
 
So what can you do if you’re a beginner and have to take a break? If you want to get and stay in shape, don’t take more than two days off between workouts when you’re able to work out regularly, and don’t let your total physical activity cease for more than one week. If you're sick or injured, try to accomplish the minimum amount of activity that’s feasible for you. On a brighter note, having to start over never really puts you all they way back at square one because you always learn and take away valuable lessons from each of your experiences.