time taken for strength loss?

[Hayden.M.]

Hi,

How long would it take somebody to loose strength if they didnt train? i know that everybody is different and their is no exact answer, but generally how long to loose a little strength and how long to loose pretty much everything youve worked for over the months?

Thanks for your time,

Hayden.

[Joshua Naterman]

It takes about one month to start losing maximal strength. Endurance leaves more quickly, after around 5 days mitochondrial density starts dropping. Of course endurance comes back faster too, 3-4 weeks at the most unless you've had a total layoff, and even then 2-3 months can get you damn near back to previous peak endurance.

Maximal strength takes a lot longer to build back. I have no numbers there for you, except that it takes a person 30% less time to build their strength back to previously achieved levels if it is not their first time. So, if it took you 1 year to go from 250 to 300 on bench, and then you screw off for a year and you're back at 250, it will take you around 8 months to get back to 300.

[Jeffrey]

All hail muscle memory