Fickle fitness

September 17, 2007 5:22 PM

I go through very rapid ups and downs in physical strength and stability. Is this normal?

29 years old, male, overall healthy. I have been noticing this for a while now: if I don’t exercise for 3 days or more my physical fitness (strength, stamina, stability) goes way down. My knees and other joints start creaking, I feel lethargic, I don’t feel as strong as I did few days ago, etc. etc. However, the weirdest part is that I seem to physically shrink somewhat. I have tried to put it down to a mental illusion, but it’s hard to argue against variable length of the wrist watch band. My jeans start to become super loose around the thigh and my waist expands so that I can’t button my jeans—-in a matter of a week. And it is true in reverse: couple of days of exercise and I am feeling waaay better. In particular if I keep working on my legs (fast biking 10 - 15 miles every other day is great) my overall physical well-being will be great.

I either bike, do weights, or yoga one hour every day when I am keeping myself fit. Otherwise I am known to be a very laid-back guy.
I eat healthy, live a conscious life, meditate/pray regularly.

posted by raheel to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

My sister (16 years old) is very athletic and also notices this rapid decline when she stops exercising for even a short time. We think it's because her body is accustomed to needing massive amounts of calories to stay alive, but when she isn't burning them she still craves them and eats them anyway with no realization that she doesn't actually need them. She was injured this summer and couldn't go for runs and she felt like she was just completely deteriorating in a matter of days. She also had a lot of trouble sleeping.

So I don't know if it's normal, but you're not alone.
posted by crinklebat at 5:29 PM on September 17, 2007

However, the weirdest part is that I seem to physically shrink somewhat.

Your muscles are letting go of stored glycogen (and the associated water) since they don't need it anymore. The same thing happens to me. Nothing to worry about, at least there.
posted by ch1x0r at 5:37 PM on September 17, 2007

i was going to say, you're probably losing a bit of water.

as for why you feel weaker, it's both chemical and psychological. exercise makes the endorphins flow--people who are normally active often feel like crap if they go more than a day or two without doing something. i know i do, and i don't even work out that hardcore or anything.
posted by thinkingwoman at 6:20 PM on September 17, 2007

I've been similar my whole life (I'm 42) -- astonishingly rapid changes in my body, in both directions, over short periods, depending on how healthy I'm living, including energy levels and overall feeling-good-inside-my-skin. I'm pretty massive in terms of muscle (regardless of how much padding I may or may not have on top of it at any given time), for what it's worth.

Beer tends to play a role in this for me, too. At least in terms of the padding part.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:33 AM on September 18, 2007

I should also say, I guess, that longer periods (months, say) of regular vigourous exercise, or longer periods of laziness, mean, increasingly as the years go by, that it takes longer to get back (in either the positive or negative sense) to the equilibrium point in terms of overall wellness, even as the quick changes still seem to happen depending on my short-term activity level and quality of food intake.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:36 AM on September 18, 2007