What happens to your body when you stop exercising
0What happens to your body when you stop exercising.
For adults, the CDC recommends at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and two, or more, days of muscle training per week. However, not everyone meets those standards. This is what happens to your body when you go from regular exercise to none at all. Following is a transcript of the video, which is largely based on the information in this Gizmodo article.
What happens when you stop exercising? Changes happen over weeks to months. Here's a breakdown.
Week 1: You're already less fit. You've lost about 5% of your "VO2 max" which means less oxygen is available to generate energy for muscles. If you could run a 5K in 20 minutes, your time is now about 10 seconds longer.
Weeks 2-3: You now have lost 12% of your VO2 max. There's a decrease in muscle strength and tissue. Your muscle cells have become smaller. Your fat cells are getting bigger. Your 5K time is now about 60 seconds longer.