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But the significant advantages ofweight and strength trainingaren’t something to scoff at.
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“Weight training strengthens not only your muscles but also your skeletal system,” Deschenes says.
Do all of your hard-won gains disappear?
We asked the pros to break it down for us.
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“Strength goes down almost immediately,” he sayswithin a single week.
After three weeks without weight training, Deschenes says you start to lose muscle mass.
But without the regular stimulus of weight or strength training, your bones will become less dense, too.
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If gone unaddressed, low bone density can put you at anincreased risk of osteoporosisand fractures.
“Muscles are some of the most active tissues in the body,” says Deschenes.
“Muscle mass is the greatest depot of stored glucose [in the body],” says Deschenes.
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The liver has some, he says, but it’s a much smaller amount.
Thankfully, building muscle mass (which you could do with, you guessed it, weight training!)
isassociated with a reduced risk of diabetes.
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“You could take two or three weeks off and be fine.”
