Detraining 8 weeks in Olympic champion rower

Training
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Paper:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7519163_The_detraining_and_retraining_of_an_elite_rower_A_case_study

Interesting that maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max) dropped 8%, but metabolic fitness (power) declined at a much higher rates (20% and 25%).

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Good job I don’t row then :roll_eyes: :wink:
My unscientific numbers:
My longest enforced break was for 5weeks, I probably lost something in VO2max, but according to GC I gained 6% VO2max from the month before the op to the month after (4% gain compared to the best pre op VO2max).
I can’t really compare power directly as I lost something like 3lb in the opp but my 20min max was down 8.6% from my best ever 20mins max the month before to the month after. If I’ve recorded my weight right, circa a 6.4%decline in w/kg.

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Citations are interesting “ available evidence on such a topic is extremely limited (Godfrey et al., 2005)”

Any reason this 2005 study is resurfaced now?

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I’ve taken several 2 and 4 week breaks over the last 2-3 years, and use my power-to-HR numbers to track fitness declines/improvements.

Using that definition of fitness, it takes about twice as long to recover previous fitness levels. In other words, a 2 week break takes 4 weeks to restore fitness. And a 4 week break takes about 8 weeks to restore fitness.

@JoeX no idea. But he posts some interesting stuff, although a lot involves running or related sports (soccer/football).

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They are the most Aussie looking blokes on the planet. I wouldn’t be surprised if they each had a beer stashed between their legs. :joy:

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Power vs HR is a cool chart in Intervals.icu. Is that what you use, and if so, what time frames do you compare before and after the break?

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I’m old school and still do visual inspection of power vs HR.

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As a British crew they’d probably take that as a compliment :smiley:

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I don’t think you can draw that conclusion from that study. As you know different aspects decay at different rates. The decline in 8 weeks will involve a lot more processes than at 2 weeks.

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No general conclusions, simply found it interesting that I’ve also seen a 2x timeline to restore metabolic fitness. And no way anyone would mistake me for elite or olympic caliber.