fitness losses

Dasha

How much fitness would you lose after 6 weeks of no activity.

terra

I have no idea if it's true or not but I once read it's something like 1% per day, so after 100 days you'd be back to the same fitness you were before you started riding. 6 weeks would be a 42% loss of fitness.

However, from practical experience ( I had to take a month off following an op), the rest from riding has benefits which make restarting riding much easier. I found I was back to normal fitness after a couple of rides and after a few more rides my fitness was better than before the layoff. Before the layoff I was riding 15-20 mile routes across the moors once, twice or maybe three times a week as well as other sports.

Basically don't worry about it, if you have to have six weeks off there's probably no alternative anyway, you'll probably struggle for the first couple of rides but soon it'll feel like you've never been away.

ride_whenever

After six weeks you'll be pretty much back to your original fitness levels, however, you'll find it much much easier to get it back up, within 2-3 weeks you'll be back to where you were.

allthegearnoidea

from a muscle building and strength point of view, 3 weeks of no activity you'll be back to how you were before you started! so with in doubt 6 weeks on you will certainly be back at square one!
i suffer this way a lot due to having M.E. Cycling is the only thing i have found that helps me improve my condition but the slightest bug sets me back weeks, and often i have to start again just when i was really getting into the swing of it!

jjojjas

due to many factors I stopped for 5 weeks late last year. It took me about 3 weeks to get back into the same level, but I got there a lot quicker than my wife who had been off her bike for about 6 months. She still struggles and is no where near the level she was.

I'm talking about daily cycling here mind, not your weekend blasts.
Jas

Matteeboy

Wife was pregant for 8 months and for the last 3 months, just did a 3ish mile walk.
We lost the baby but 2 months later, I'd say she is back to her original (high) fitness levels.

stumpyjon

How long's a piece of string. I didn't get out on the bike for pretty much the whole of November and December, been out quite a bit in the New Year though.

When I got back into mountain biking properly about March last year, I vividly remember the first time I went out, doing an 8 mile loop locally in good weather, dry trails etc., it took me nearly 2hours and I physically couldn't walk up the stairs afterwards because my legs were so wrecked :oops: .

Did the same loop on New Years day (it was cold, raining and the trails were mush) did it in 1 1/4 hours and felt Ok afterwards depite the best part of a two month lay off (can crack it off in under an hour in the summer 8) ).

Point is there is no way I've lost even 50% of my fitness compared to this time last year despite a lay off. I would guess it all depends on what you reference as your average fitness.

allthegearnoidea

htere is a certain amount of truth behind what a doc. said to me many years back about your body conditioning itself in the sence that if for instance you ride 5 miles on a wednesday and 10 miles on a sunday every week for the spring and summer and you suddenly stop for one reason or another, on said wednesday and sunday your body will be expecting the excercise and to a certain extent as soon as you jump back intop the saddle and go for the ride your body adapts back to the way it was pretty quickly! But its not to say that after a coulpe of months off you'll be instantly able to crack the ten milerwithout straining!

i dont know if that makes sence?? (it was explained to me over a pint when chatting about the guys who drink pretty much non stop from friday night to sunday night! then back to work for the week!)