How to defend your fitness during lockdown
Why maintaining even some fitness routine is important
(First published on: Maverick Life/Daily Maverick: 28 April 2020)
The benefits of exercise are well-known: it builds immunity as well as improves our general sense of well-being by reducing anxiety. And even during lockdown, it’s worth trying to keep working out.
But what effect could a drop in our fitness regime have on the overall goals we had achieved?
The benefits of exercise are well-known: it builds immunity as well as improves our general sense of well-being by reducing anxiety. And even during lockdown, it’s worth trying to keep working out.
But what effect could a drop in our fitness regime have on the overall goals we had achieved?
Research suggests that exercise is not only associated with overall physical health but also improves mental health. In the USA a Lancet survey conducted between 2011 and 2015 among 2.1 million individuals over 18 years, found that those who did moderate exercise three to five time per week were 43.2% less likely to suffer from anxiety and depression compared to those who did not exercise.
Professor Ross Tucker a Cape Town-based sport scientist, recently spoke about the benefits of detraining or diminished training during lockdown in an online presentation to Virgin Active managers, that is now also available on You Tube. He pointed out that the way detraining is done will have an effect on how much fitness one loses and, by implication, how much work one will have to do at a later stage to regain that fitness.
Professor Ross Tucker a Cape Town-based sport scientist, recently spoke about the benefits of detraining or diminished training during lockdown in an online presentation to Virgin Active managers, that is now also available on You Tube. He pointed out that the way detraining is done will have an effect on how much fitness one loses and, by implication, how much work one will have to do at a later stage to regain that fitness.
Tucker quoted research showing that by retaining as little as 20% of one’s normal routine, we will lose 50% less fitness as compared to stopping completely. In short: keeping up with some sort of exercise is always better than dropping it all, and you’ll feel the benefits once you’re back in your normal routine.
Tucker explains that the effort required to ‘defend’ or maintain the fitness level one has achieved is much less than the effort it took to reach that level — the more solid the base, the better it can be defended. Factors that affect how much one will lose depend on genetics, age, the specificity of the training and training history. Those who have trained for many years will be able to hold onto their fitness longer than those who have only recently started training. Gains made from strength training can be maintained longer than those won during endurance training.
Tucker explains that the effort required to ‘defend’ or maintain the fitness level one has achieved is much less than the effort it took to reach that level — the more solid the base, the better it can be defended. Factors that affect how much one will lose depend on genetics, age, the specificity of the training and training history. Those who have trained for many years will be able to hold onto their fitness longer than those who have only recently started training. Gains made from strength training can be maintained longer than those won during endurance training.
In the case of lockdown and people finding themselves confined at home, it is fair to wonder how much fitness one could lose if no longer training as before, how quickly and what can one do to mitigate the effects of detraining.
Luckily, research on detraining can help with putting together a lockdown training regimen that will minimise losses and set one up for a quicker return to fitness once the gates open a fraction.
A study conducted in Germany in 2017 and dubbed ‘How to prevent the detrimental effects of two months of bed-rest on muscle, bone and cardiovascular system: an RCT’, which was also referenced by Professor Tucker, included a group of 23 fit men who was confined to two months’ bedrest. One half of the group did no exercise, whereas the other was allowed to hop for two minutes three times a week. After six weeks, the group that did no exercise had lost 2.5 % bone density, 41% knee extension strength, 5% lean mass of legs and 16% knee-flexion strength. Their cardiovascular capacity (or VO2max) had dropped by 29%.
By contrast, the group that was allowed the small amount of exercise experienced significantly less deterioration. Their bone density was unchanged, while knee strength dropped only 3% and peak power by only 12%.
By contrast, the group that was allowed the small amount of exercise experienced significantly less deterioration. Their bone density was unchanged, while knee strength dropped only 3% and peak power by only 12%.
The conclusion? Even small amounts of training can have great impact in maintaining fitness and overall physical condition.
Another piece of research, published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine and titled ‘Reduced Training Maintains Performance in Distance Runners’ studied a recreational running group. The group was used to running 81 km over a six-day period; this was reduced to 25km over a five-day period during a three-week detraining session. It represented a distance reduction of approximately 70%, but the group did maintain a similar balance between hard and easy intensity.
The results showed that although their plasma volume was down by 5.6% and their heart rate had increased 2.3%, there was no change in either their VO2max and their five-km time-trial times.
The study confirms that doing less endurance training does have physiological effects but that, if you maintain intensity, even in reduced doses, you can significantly reduce the impact or loss on your performance.
To figure out what happens if a combination of strength and endurance training is reduced, elite kayakers participated in a study at the end of their season, that was then published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine in 2009. During their peak training period, they trained 10 hours per week consisting of 2-3 hours of strength work and 7-8 hours of endurance training. During the five weeks of the study, a control group stopped training entirely while a second group reduced their training to two hours per week, consisting of 30 minutes of weekly strength training and two short cardio sessions.
Results showed that VO2Max, which measures the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during exercise at high intensity, went down by 11.3% in the control group but only 5.6% in the group that did reduced training. On a number of other measures, the control group also declined significantly more than the group that did limited exercise: paddling power down 7.9% versus 3.9%, bench presses down by 8.9% versus 3.9%, bench pulls down by 7.8% versus only 3.4%.
Another piece of research, published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine and titled ‘Reduced Training Maintains Performance in Distance Runners’ studied a recreational running group. The group was used to running 81 km over a six-day period; this was reduced to 25km over a five-day period during a three-week detraining session. It represented a distance reduction of approximately 70%, but the group did maintain a similar balance between hard and easy intensity.
The results showed that although their plasma volume was down by 5.6% and their heart rate had increased 2.3%, there was no change in either their VO2max and their five-km time-trial times.
The study confirms that doing less endurance training does have physiological effects but that, if you maintain intensity, even in reduced doses, you can significantly reduce the impact or loss on your performance.
To figure out what happens if a combination of strength and endurance training is reduced, elite kayakers participated in a study at the end of their season, that was then published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine in 2009. During their peak training period, they trained 10 hours per week consisting of 2-3 hours of strength work and 7-8 hours of endurance training. During the five weeks of the study, a control group stopped training entirely while a second group reduced their training to two hours per week, consisting of 30 minutes of weekly strength training and two short cardio sessions.
Results showed that VO2Max, which measures the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during exercise at high intensity, went down by 11.3% in the control group but only 5.6% in the group that did reduced training. On a number of other measures, the control group also declined significantly more than the group that did limited exercise: paddling power down 7.9% versus 3.9%, bench presses down by 8.9% versus 3.9%, bench pulls down by 7.8% versus only 3.4%.
Taken together, these studies suggest that although we may lose some cardio-vascular and endurance capacity, we can maintain muscle strength. Muscle strength can be defended given that one trains to fatigue — even if the weights you have available at home are lighter than what you might use in the gym.
The research also indicates that the shorter the detraining, the faster the return to fitness. A final word of caution from Professor Tucker is not to overdo training during the lockdown period as injury is to be avoided at all costs and excessive exertion could even compromise one’s immunity.
“It might be helpful to see lockdown as an opportunity to do exercise one usually avoids. For example, runners could do some of the stretching or strength exercises they don’t typically get to,” he says. “Invest wisely in your fitness during this period, and you will get back to where you were much faster.” DM/ ML
Listen to Professor Tucker’s podcast here.
“It might be helpful to see lockdown as an opportunity to do exercise one usually avoids. For example, runners could do some of the stretching or strength exercises they don’t typically get to,” he says. “Invest wisely in your fitness during this period, and you will get back to where you were much faster.” DM/ ML
Listen to Professor Tucker’s podcast here.
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