Hey guys, just curious about others here that may have been through a similar period of de conditioning and could give a good guideline. Maybe perhaps others that just know this from their own experience or knowledge as well.
I basically lost all of my strength and all my hard work over the years in the gym because of lyme disease and am slowly recovering back to stable health again. Now in the very least I am just so happy and grateful to be alive and that I can possibly recover with no long term issues, this alone is beyond possible words to be happy for.
I am wondering though how long it would take to get back into my previous state of physique and conditioning though given that I had to take over a year and some odd months off to recover my body.
I know strength comes back pretty quick but I don’t think I will have the same level of conditioning and everything else for at least over a year. Is it easier to gain muscle again because of muscle memory? I had pretty severe muscle loss from being sick but hope to crank things up again soon and possibly compete in the near future if all goes well!
I don’t mind having things take time and that is fine, It has been serious baby steps to even feel like a human being again given my infection was so deep and symptoms were so severe in the brain, heart, and nervous system. Anyways I was just curious if anyone had an idea about this and maybe could give input!
There’s no way to put a time frame on it. So many factors come into play, even more when you’ve suffered as you have.
I stayed in Australia for a year in my mid 20s and never touched the iron once. When I got back to the homeland, I got back on it and could feel the gains coming back within weeks.
Fast forward 10 years later.
Took a sabbatical from lifting at the start of the year and started cycling for 3 months solid. Managed about 1500 miles in that time. I ended up looking like I had taken a month long vacation in Belsen. Strength plummeted as well. Culminated in some girls at work saying I looked skinny.
Immediately got back on it and started 531 BBB and eating like a bear. Been doing that for the last 2 months and still feel as weak as American beer and not seeing major muscle gain. I think it comes down to being older and having a more physically demanding job now.
Took a sabbatical from lifting at the start of the year and started cycling for 3 months solid. Managed about 1500 miles in that time. I ended up looking like I had taken a month long vacation in Belsen. Strength plummeted as well. Culminated in some girls at work saying I looked skinny.
Immediately got back on it and started 531 BBB and eating like a bear. Been doing that for the last 2 months and still feel as weak as American beer and not seeing major muscle gain. I think it comes down to being older and having a more physically demanding job now.
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Not cycling anymore?
Took near a decade long lay off. Strength gains/ neural adaptations come back rapidly. Deadlift especially. Went from 185lbs to 315lbs in less than 2 months but tweaked my back lol. Squat and bench don’t go up as fast unless im gaining weight consistantly, but still having “beginner gains” of 5-10lbs a month in the 2 lifts after 9 months. I have also gained 23lbs of bodyweight with minimum fat but then im naturally very lean even when not training and on a crap diet. I was assisted for brief periods in the last 2 years before the layoff.
In summary:
Strength comes back rapidly especially for less bodyweight dependent lifts but don’t push your luck like me as the body may not be able to handle it yet.
Muscle memory still comes into play even after years of not lifting IMO although its hard for me to give an objective comparison between then and now because so much time has passed.
From my own experience of long lay offs, of which I have had a couple (1 year+), I was able to fully regain my strength levels in about 10-20% of the time it took to make the gains initially. In the case of my first long lay off, I had been lifting for 2-3 years, and then lost essentially everything I’d gained due to heavy drug use for about a year. Total time away from the gym then was close to a year and a half, maybe a bit more.
I got most, if not all of my strength back after being back in the gym for 4-6 months. Conditioning, in my opinion, comes back much quicker, unless your conditioning was at a fairly elite level. I can get out of shape conditioning-wise, and get back in great shape in just a few weeks.
Good luck with everything, glad to hear your health is returning.
Wow very helpful! thank you all so much for the replies it kind of fits with what I was already guessing, I don’t mind taking time again and working at it with a beginner style again. I was just curious what I was getting in for and still it can feel a bit depressing to be so much weaker and out of sorts for a while, I think I was just comparing myself to the standard I held before in my efforts and probably should just let that go for now.
in response to dt79 oddly enough my hormones are very low, my infection completely wrecked with my whole body and processes and gave me low free test scores, I could have used Andro Gel but it clears up on its own when the infection is brought down more so did not find it worth it. The fact that I could potentially need to use it for the rest of my life is not worth it to me, strange though I would think I could use something temporarily to help boost my test levels and immune system without having to be on it for the rest of my life, I do use some pro test herbs and the like though which helps a bit.
I think it was a combination of the de conditioning and inactivity along with the horrible changes in hormones that caused me to lose so much strength and size, alongside the anemia and everything which probably did not help lol… Man I still can’t believe a tick bite screwed my up this much. I never had a single health issue in my entire life before and always had an infinite supply of stamina and energy. The conditioning was at a pretty elite level as well with my martial arts and athletic training, right now it can be a struggle just to get through each day though so taking baby steps and trying to stay alive before I push the envelope any further for now haha.
Things will only get better from here. I asked the question only because since low hormone levels are to be expected after a long illness, so your expections of gains after the layoff may need to be lowered and training volume and diet would need to be adjusted accordingly. Don’ worry about it though as this is likely only in the short run while your body recovers and fully adjusts itself back to its natural state.
[quote]dt79 wrote:
Man, what you’ve been through really sucks.
Things will only get better from here. I asked the question only because since low hormone levels are to be expected after a long illness, so your expections of gains after the layoff may need to be lowered and training volume and diet would need to be adjusted accordingly. Don’ worry about it though as this is likely only in the short run while your body recovers and fully adjusts itself back to its natural state.
Good luck on your road to recovery.[/quote]
Thanks man, I really appreciate the kind words! I will definitely have to work things around and not expect to push myself too much for a bit of time, it will definitely be longer to rebound then someone that wasn’t dealing with life threatening illness. I am just happy to get my feet back in to this and start moving forward finally get back to the things I have always loved and enjoyed doing, rather then waiting to pass over to the next side lol.
[quote]ChongLordUno wrote:
Just passed my PT cert and am going into business so I need to put a bit of beef back on mate.
Still going for the odd spin now and again but purely as a social thing.
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Similar thing happens to me over the years with cycling and lifting. I spend 3 months getting into cycling and even dropping weight for the purpose of been able to cycle better, but I always seem to return back to the gym. IMO, cycling with an extra 5-10 kg’s of muscle makes it hard to keep up even with some of the weekend warriors.
The only information I can share is my own experience. In 2013, after 2 years of “training” with such little consistency I would have gained as much strength collecting stamps, it took about 6 months to beat the strength level I had 5 years before in university. Bench went from 225 to 275,squat from 335 to 365 and deadlift stayed the same at 405. Then I had to pause again because of severe bilateral patellar tendonitis and left elbow extensor tendonitis… No drug (well obviously with those very average numbers).