The effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders

The effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders is a strong one that is easy to notice, but do you know what happens inside your body when you stop exercising? Through this article, we will discuss together the extent to which this matter affects health in the short and long term, in addition to knowing the correct mechanism for stopping exercise for a period without causing harm to the body.

What is exercise?

At the beginning of our talk about the effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders, we must know the concept of exercise: it is an activity that a person performs to revitalize the body and increase its flexibility. Through it, one maintains a healthy lifestyle and gains the necessary fitness to perform various life activities.

Pointing to the concept of exercise, we must point out that exercise is different from the definition of training. Exercise is part of training, which includes a few other things depending on the area or part that the person is rehabilitating and increasing his physical fitness.

Cessation of exercise

The effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders varies depending on several factors. Sometimes an athlete may need to stop exercising in the event of severe stress or injury, and a person may need to stop exercising for any other reason or due to life circumstances.

One of the most important factors that affect the effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders is the duration factor.

The effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders for a week, for example, is different from The effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders for two months, and the type of exercises that the athlete practices greatly controls the effect—resulting from abstaining from exercising.

Certainly, this effect can be observed in the shape of the body and muscles and the individual’s physical strength while practicing his usual daily routine. Therefore, before taking the step of abstaining from exercising, it is necessary to determine the appropriate period so that it does not cause major damage.

The effect of stopping exercise

After we learned about the concept of exercise and the factors affecting abstention from practicing it, now we learn about the effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders, which can be summarized as follows:

• Loss of physical fitness that the body has gained from regular exercise.
• The efficiency of the heart muscle decreases, and it loses the strength it previously gained from exercise.
• A decrease in the quality of breathing and the delivery of oxygen to the body cells due to irregular blood circulation in the body, as it was during the period of regular exercise.
• The volume of plasma in the blood decreases and returns to previous values before regular exercise – which means a decrease in the rate of blood pumping to the heart and thus weakening its muscles as they were before.
• Abstaining from practicing some types of vigorous exercises or those responsible for muscle growth may lead to a sharp and noticeable decrease in weight due to weak muscle mass in the body.
• Due to low burning rates, the effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders is extremely harmful and causes fat to accumulate in the body and accumulate in certain areas.
• Abstaining from exercise for a long period has a strong impact on the health of the digestive system because exercise contributes greatly to the process of nutritional metabolism and the absorption of nutrients that the body needs.
• The psychological and nervous aspect of a person is greatly affected when one stops exercising. The effect on the nervous system is due to its constant association with muscle health and strength, while on the psychological level, it is due to the poor condition of the body and the deterioration of many of its functions, which increases the psychological pressure on the person.

The benefits of stopping exercise on the body for a short period

In some cases, it is good for a person to stop exercising, even for a short period, such as in cases of recurrent injury, severe muscle strain, or even damage to an organ in the body and his intolerance to exercising previously.

Experts and athletes also recommend that the rest period be between 5 and 10 days, so that the body does not lose the fitness it gained previously.

Also, a maximum period of two weeks may be appropriate to return to previous exercises without causing major damage.

Tips when returning to exercise

One of the things that must be taken into consideration is that stopping and returning to exercise requires doing some things so that sudden stress does not occur. Among the most important tips when returning to exercising are the following:

• Make sure to do light warm-up exercises before starting previously performed exercises so that the body gains the ability to do the same effort again.
• Do not do the same exercises with the same intensity the first time. Start with moderate rates and then raise these rates each time by a small percentage compared to the previous time so that severe muscle cramps do not occur.
• During your break from exercising, make sure to maintain a healthy diet as you did when exercising, and as much as possible, stay away from foods that contain carbohydrates so that it is not difficult to get rid of them later and increase the effort in exercise.
• After you return, make sure to keep up with your exercise schedules and not stop again so that you don’t go back to square one and start over.
• Make sure that the exercise includes short rest periods that do not exceed a few minutes, so as not to cause significant injuries or pressure on some areas of the body and to ensure your ability to continue exercising.

Harmful effects of abstaining from exercise

In continuation of our talk on the effect of stopping exercise on bodybuilders, we point out that the damage caused sometimes is not temporary or simple, as the situation may worsen for more than that, and the following occurs:

• Increasing the possibility of an individual suffering from some chronic diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease, because not exercising regularly increases the weakness of fat burning and thus its accumulation in the body.
• Significant weight gain and subsequent diseases such as obesity.
• High levels of cholesterol in the blood due to lack of movement and lack of adherence to an integrated health regimen between food and exercise.
• Bone and muscle diseases. Absence from exercise and lack of movement may lead to diseases such as osteoporosis, weak muscle mass, and thus general weakness in the body.
• Lack of activity and low levels of concentration are also among the most common harms of not exercising because brain functions become more active when exercising regularly.
• Some blood diseases occur due to damage to their chemical composition within the body due to lack of movement, which consequently leads to a weakness in the movement of blood circulation so that oxygen and nutrients do not reach the various cells of the body.

Exercising is no longer a luxury in a world where diseases have become stronger and more widespread, so the task of maintaining the body is an inevitable necessity.