Detraining In Runners With The @runningproject

We Look At Detraining And What The Research Says About Minimising The Effect

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Whether you're currently in your off season or possible taking a little time off over the holidays, you may have taken some time away from training as well and may be wondering how this is going to effect your attempts to get a personal best later in the year. Detaining is something that will happen when you stop training for a certain period of time but how much time do you need to take off and how badly will it slow you down. There is no denying that when you don't train, you will loose fitness and speed, but it seems a lot of runners will get pretty anxious when only taking one or two days off training.

I was always told the rule you need to follow is, you will need to train for twice the number of weeks that you take off, to get back to where you were previously. So if you take two weeks off running while on vacation or you needed to rest due to an injury, does that really mean you need four weeks get back to the same pace you were running before our time off?

Generally speaking, when you stop training, your VO2 max will decrease, heart rate will increase, your flexibility, lactate threshold and muscle glycogen levels will all decrease. Research conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine, suggests you could actually loose most of your fitness gains if you stop exercising for between two to eight months. With loss of endurance and aerobic capacity occurring quicker than a loss in muscle strength.

Fit People Will Be Better Off

One good thing to recognise is that people who have been training hard and for a long time will have a more gradual decline in their speed and endurance. Some studies suggest that even after 3 months of time off, a well trained athlete will still have a VO2 max much higher than someone who is sedentary. A second study looked at obese people, getting them to exercise for four months. Even though the four months of exercise had lead to an improvement in overall health, just one month of no exercise resulted in a loss of most of their improvements.

Cut Back On Your Running, But Not Totally

If you cut back the volume of your training, including how often and how far you run, you can actually maintain your fitness for a long time. One study compared 12 well trained cyclists and found that even when they reduced their training for 21 days there were able to maintain their previous physical adaptations during this time with no loss in speed or endurance.

Other studies, have found that even after 15 weeks, the reduction in endurance and fitness could still be minimal when you are still performing reduced training

When You Get Back To Running

When you start to get running again, make sure you realise you're not going to back to 100% in a matter of weeks. It is going to take a little while longer. Especially if you are recovering from an injury, you may need even more time. Just remember, a little rest can actually help improve your performance, so don't get stressed if you need to miss a week or two of training. As well if you are injured, there are always the non injured body parts you can be training as you recover.

About the Author
Hey I'm Vince, an Aussie living in New Zealand, trying my best to make the most of the time I have. I work as a Software Engineer but love to run and all aspects of it, including geeking out on the latest science to help get the most out of my body.

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