nathank

hmm... maybe someone knows some statistics, but i think it's hard to say exactly becuase it drops off gradually.

when you are training your body is constantly in a cycle of being broken down and then rebuilding due to the stress.

i _think_ and i'm not sure, that the muscle cycle is shorter than the cardio-fitness cycle as the muscles get metobolized pretty quickly but the extra red-blood cells and other stuff in the blood and circulation system are longer-cycle, but i'm only speculating based on my experience... i think the muscle on the order of 2 weeks and the cardio on the order of 4 weeks.

so if you are in tip-top shape, then do nothing... after 1 week you may actually be stronger and fitter (because of benefits from earlier training and complete recovery/regeneration). then the 2nd week will be ok. the 3rd week i think your strength would drop significantly and your cardio slightly. after 1 month your muscle strength should be greatly reduced and your cardio also lower...

anything longer than a month without any training and it would really disrupt your training schedule and you would probably need to virtually start over.

i was sick in end of Feb/March/beginning of April for almost 7 weeks during which time i did about half of my normal training --- my cardio-fitness remained pretty high, but my muscle strength REALLY suffered and after almost 3 weeks of REALLY hard training now i can still barely sprint in the group (i AM a sprinter) i think i need another 2 weeks to get back to where i was before getting sick. (i successfully sprinted with the group on wednesday, i just didn't win which i should have against the non-sprinters there)

i guess for rough numbers, i'd say 2 weeks for muscle strength and 4 weeks for cardio fitness, but it's a question of HOW much loss. this 2wk/4wk i would say is a loss of maybe 15% to 20%... (i'm totally guessing)