The holiday season can make it challenging to maintain your fitness routine, and it’s natural to worry about losing your progress. The good news is that taking a break from the gym likely won’t undo all your hard work. A recent study found that those who took a 10-week break from strength training maintained their muscle growth, strength, and jump performance when they started working out again.
The research, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, suggests that you don’t need to stress over short-term training breaks in your lifelong fitness journey. Here’s what you should know about why your gains might last longer than you think and whether experts advise taking a pause from working out.
Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä studied how a break from exercise after several months of resistance training affected strength and muscle size. They recruited 55 healthy men and women aged 18 to 40, who hadn’t done much resistance training before. Participants were split into two groups: one did resistance exercises like bicep curls and squats twice a week for 20 weeks straight, while the other group took a 10-week break halfway through.
The researchers measured muscle strength and size before the study and every five weeks during, except for the break period. The results showed that the group that took a 10-week break had similar gains in muscle strength and size as those who trained continuously. Both groups bounced back quickly to their pre-break levels once they resumed training.
Interestingly, progress was rapid in the first few weeks after the break, with the levels reached after five weeks of retraining. In contrast, continuous training over the entire 20 weeks saw progress slow after the first 10 weeks, resulting in no overall difference between the groups in terms of muscle size or strength development.
This study reinforces findings from earlier research indicating that taking exercise breaks doesn’t significantly impact muscle or strength, as observed in athletes who paused for three weeks. However, as exercise expert Ryan Glatt pointed out, it’s unclear how longer breaks or varying intensities might affect outcomes, especially in experienced lifters who adapt more quickly.
The reason you might not lose as much progress as expected is that regular training enhances your muscles, like improving blood flow, which helps rebuild strength after a pause. Regular weightlifting increases blood supply to muscles, making them stronger and more resilient after breaks.
Previous training also enhances muscle cells and movement pathways, contributing to a phenomenon called “muscle memory,” where muscles can remember past movements. For instance, when you return to weightlifting or playing a sport after a break, you can usually get back up to speed faster.
A similar effect occurs with cardio exercises, which improve the heart, lungs, and mitochondria, allowing quicker recovery after retraining due to retained efficiency. However, the break’s impact depends on its duration and your fitness history. Short breaks generally have little effect, whereas longer ones might cause significant losses, especially for beginners.
According to Glatt, when you train consistently, regaining lost progress typically requires about half the break’s length. For example, a six-week break might need about three weeks to return to previous strength levels. However, recovering muscle mass can take longer than just regaining strength, often extending to three weeks of recovery per week of inactivity.
Taking planned breaks can help reduce overtraining risks and allow for recovery without setbacks. These pauses also lower injury risks and can enhance performance. Glatt suggests taking occasional weeks off, but the frequency and duration should match your personal needs and training intensity.
Listening to your body is crucial. If you’re in pain or dealing with an injury, taking a few days off to rest and recover is perfectly fine.
