Taken a break from training while overseas and wondering when your fitness and strength will return?

WHAT IS DETRAINING?

Detraining is the marked decrease in training resulting in a decrease in anatomical, physiological and performance adaptations.

Detraining effects will depend on two main factors:

• Length of inactivity: Long term >4 weeks, short term <4 weeks
• Training background: High trained versus recently trained.

SHORT TERM DETRAINING (<4 WEEKS)

CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS

• In the short term this is characterised by a rapid reduction in VO2 MAX in highly trained individuals and a smaller reduction in recently trained individuals.

STRENGHT

• Can generally be maintained up to 4 weeks, however eccentric force and sports specific power athletes may experience significant declines in performance.

LONG TERM DETRAINING (>4 WEEKS)

• Maintaining training intensity but reducing training volume - can reduce training volume by up to 60-90%, however training frequency needs to be less than 20-30% in order to maintain adaptations
• So you can reduce how long you're training but not how frequently you are training.

STRATEGIES TO PREVENT DETRAINING - REDUCE VOLUME, MAINTAIN INTENSITY AND SLIGHTLY REDUCE FREQUENCY

• Maintain training intensity but reducing training volume - can reduce training volume by up to 60-90%
• However, training frequency needs to be less than 20-30% in order to maintain adaptations.