How fast does "getting out of shape" happen?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Ber Rabbit

Floppy Ear Mod
ScubaBoard Supporter
Scuba Instructor
Messages
8,039
Reaction score
18
Location
Ohio
# of dives
200 - 499
I used to work night shift and run a machine that required me to constantly be on the move. I've been on day shift since May, the first time I've been off of night shift in 10 years or so. I always take the stairs but that's about the extent of the exercise I'm getting right now, I spend most of my day sitting at a desk. I've always been teased for my high metabolism, people tend to think I have an eating disorder because I eat so much but stay so thin. I noticed my jeans no longer fit in August and now the dress pants I wear to work are getting tight and I can see a fat layer under my skin that was never there before. Yesterday I was panting after trotting up the stairs and that has never happened before. I'll be 37 in December and I've noticed as I get older something about my body changes a couple of months before my birthday so the timing is right for stuff to start happening.

Is this how "out of shape" happens? This is all new to me so I don't know if it's the normal progression of weight gain or if it's something I should contact a Doc about.
Ber :lilbunny:
 
Metabolic rate drops with age, and also with inactivity, and six months of limited exercise is plenty of time for that change to occur. Assuming you haven't had any other symptoms of hypothyroidism (cold intolerance, hair loss, excessive fatigue), then I'd say it's unlikely the changes you're describing are due to any pathology.

The good news is that, if you can find time for a regular exercise program, you can push your metabolic rate back up AND lose weight AND increase your stamina. But it will take the months it took to lose it, to get it back.
 
I'm about the same age as you, and noticed similar changes. My metabolism started to slow down about 3-4 years ago. Have to work harder now to keep the weight off.

Fortuantely, walking around in warm weather with a wetsuit and doubles is providing a pretty fair amount of excercise for me right now! LOL!
 
Thank you for your response, I've always thought of myself as quite inactive, evidently I was wrong about that one :wink:. No other symptoms other than I'm cold a lot but I always have been (having little natural insulation) and a blood test a couple of years ago indicated a normal thyroid.

Looks like I better start making use of that YMCA membership! Now I just have to find the motivation.
Ber :lilbunny:
 
shoot, 6 months? i'd have said '3 days'. :)
 
Ber Rabbit:
Looks like I better start making use of that YMCA membership! Now I just have to find the motivation.
Ber :lilbunny:

1.- Stand in front of a mirror
2.- Take your clothes off
3.- Start jumping in place

If that does not send you running to the Y, I don't know what will (other than verbal abuse :D ) Body image is a powerful motivator and though misguiding at first, should be good enough to get you there. I remember a client of mine, divorced for a few years, he thought he was in pretty good shape, despite my warning him that he wasn't even close. He'd train once per week every other week, and he thought it was plenty. He said he had a physically demanding job, so the workout was just a little addition. One day he came with tears in his eyes and ready to start 3x/week sessions. He had run into his ex-wife the day before and she had called him a "Fat F...k". Of course, he was PO and wanted to "show her". Now if that is not motivating enough...

As we age, unfortunately our bodies go through some changes. It's inevitable, and it's part of nature and we have to accept it. This does not mean it is normal to become an overweight weakling though. The changes simply means we will not be able to produce power and strength outputs as efficiently as we would in our earlier years, nor we will recover as fast. It's not a sentence to become a blob.

Now when people say "getting out of shape", the question that I ask is "What kind of shape were you in first of all? For athletically trained individiduals engaged in activities that demand high levels of power endurance or strength endurance, "getting out of shape" takes much longer than recreational exercisers, or those engaged in low intensity activities. It's also much easier for them to get back in shape after a lay-off. The difference is not that significant though. If memory serves me right, for the average person, including those engaged in recreational exercise, the body starts to show a remarkable decline in performance in as little as 3 days. Athletes usually take more than one week but never exceed 2. I believe this was mentioned in the works of McArdle and Katch and Katch. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

Even if your job is physically demanding, keep in mind that your body learns to become quite efficient at it, that is, producing the same amount of work using less energy. The longer you've been doing it, the more efficient you are, the less calories you use.

Time to hit the Y! Have fun and be safe. Being fit is a lifestyle, not something circumstancial. Take Care.
 
Ber Rabbit:
Looks like I better start making use of that YMCA membership! Now I just have to find the motivation.
Ber :lilbunny:

I'm not much for gyms....one reason is that there isn't one for about 100 miles...so I got a bowflex about 4 years ago. And I bicycle. Like you, after surfing and working on farms all through my 20s, I packed on some extra lbs in my late 30s. Sometimes I don't feel like it, but I'll get up and hit the 'flex or ride the bike.....or spend 3-4 hours snorkeling and spearing fish on weekends. Just do it. Like a shower or brushing teeth, it's just a habit. Now I feel crappy if I don't do it.
 
My metabolosim changed the day after I was discharged from the USMC and all that muscle just sorta sagged from relative disuse.

I read study recently that indicated that from a health risk perspective, the change from fit to unfit occurs in about 30 days. More importantly, people who have been unfit with an inactive lifestyle their whole lives and then start a regular excercise program see the same benefit health wise as a person who has been fit their whole life. More alarmingly, people who have been fit their whole lives but become sedendary for 30 days or more, have about same health risks as persons who have been unfit for their entire lives.

So, at least according to the findings of that study, the effects of fittness are very transitory which ever direction you are going.
 
coach_izzy:
1.- Stand in front of a mirror
2.- Take your clothes off
3.- Start jumping in place
I'm 5'7' and just hit 133 pounds after spending a lot of years in the 118-120 lb range so I'm not really to the jiggling stage yet I'm just not "cut" the way I used to be. There is now a layer of fat under my skin that was never there before. I can see where this little bit of fat can turn into a lot of fat if I don't get motivated and I'm interested in stopping that from happening. Mom says I'm getting "a little broad in the beam"; my butt won't fit in my jeans anymore and the size 2 dress pants are getting tight.

Any and all advice is appreciated. I'm a motivated worker for other people but when it comes to doing things for myself I tend to say "why bother." Guess I need a workout buddy who has the same availability I do.
Ber :lilbunny:
 
Ber Rabbit:
Mom says I'm getting "a little broad in the beam"; my butt won't fit in my jeans anymore and the size 2 dress pants are getting tight.

Ber :lilbunny:

Remember, your butt is 33% larger underwater (at least to your dive buddy behind you) so imagine what will happen if you don't start a regular exersise regimen. I know, horrible to imagine.

I'm incredibly busy yet exercise at least 5 times a week. This is what I do:

Run or treadmill 30 minutes a day combined with about 20 minutes of weight lifting. No big deal. You'll feel great (get those endorphins flowing) and your dive buddy will be happier too.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom