Just as a good training program builds you up, falling off the workout wagon can have the opposite effect—sometimes almost immediately.
Experts call this phenomenon “detraining,” and its consequences can weigh even heavier than the gut you see in the mirror. Fortunately, the condition is fully reversible, as long as you get your butt back to the gym.
YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE SOARS
This effect is near-instant: Your blood pressure is higher on the days you don’t exercise than the days you do.
YOUR BLOOD SUGAR SPIKES
Normally, your blood glucose rises after you eat, then drops as your muscles and other tissues suck up the sugar they need for energy. But after 5 days of slothfulness, your post-meal blood sugar levels remain elevated instead, according to a recent study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
Do you have pain?