Stupidly anxious about losing muscle/strength cos not training for 3 weeks

[Crushmonsters]

I've been hard at strength work and progressive overload power lifting this year to try and build even more strength .

But I'm away for three week without a gym and it's making me a bit anxious - as if I'm going to lose my gains and have to start over.

Any thoughts for how I can keep it up while away? Got some resistance bands and plan to do push ups and swim etc

I was out of the gym for around 6 weeks earlier this year due to a mix of holiday and illness. I walked most days and did yoga about 4 times a week and that kept me ticking over. I had to do a bit of building up slowly when I went back to the gym but not much. If you're planning to do swimming and resistance bands you should be fine

Do you have a trainer? Mine pt has some videos of sessions he did during covid for clients in lockdown that were really useful.

What about water filled dumbbells?

I would hate that too but suspect that’s a dysfunctional response from us both.

Can you do body weight and resistance band work?
Or consider advice from a trainer about maintaining and using the break to work in your favour somehow as a training pause then ramp it up when you get home?

I don't have a trainer but I could look at you tube

Do you think the likelihood is that I will lose strength during 2 weeks and undo a load of work?

I've just been off exercise for four weeks thanks to a car accident. I've definitely lost some strength but not all, you're not going to just lose everything like that in 3 weeks (and you might even find a rest helps).

Yoga, strength bands, push ups, tricep dips - you can keep going easily!

No, you want atrophy in a couple of weeks. Studies show strength and muscle mass start to decrease at around 3 weeks of not training.

Ugh - it's so rubbish to be worried about this stuff

PLEASE don't worry, I think it's important to enjoy other aspects of life like a holiday.

Look - what's the VERY worst that happens? You have to drop one weight level when you get back and rebuild? ... and? You'll do that quickly and meanwhile have had a lovely holiday. And with daily strength exercises you'll probably be fine anyway.

You might be bordering on an exercise addiction here TBH.

The longer you've been training, the slower you lose fitness.
You won't come back on peak performance, but do a couple of gentler sessions, and you'll be back where you left off within a couple of weeks.

A couple of weeks rest is no bad thing anyway.

I hear you. You are being a teeny but over worried IMHO. I just came back from enforced rest of six weeks and actually improved post rest.

Keep yourself up with bodyweight stuff and yes, resistance bands. You need a really thick heavy one and you can deadlift with it. Not the real thing but better than nothing.

If you saw me, you'd think I'm in shape but I'm no lean machine. I don't work out every day - I'm not young and I feel the strain - but I'm consistent and even more so since I have osteopenia. But I also have a bad knee and I know all the load is not helpful so it is good to rest.

It's a mental thing - a control and deflection thing as I'm going on a big trip. Which I've been planning for ages and now am more concerned about exercise than excited - which isnt real etc

Thank you all for your non judgmental help. I appreciate it

Could you do a squat, lunge, plank push up, crunches, burpees etc routine?

I wouldn't go out of your way to start finding things to deadlift, all that does is feed into some unhealthy thinking. You should be able to cope with a brief spell away, which 14 days is, without being anxious about losing form. The body responds well to rest.

Just eat healthily, do daily purposeful walks, some yoga on YouTube and you'll find you come back with renewed enthusiasm.

Impossible to say for certain how your performance will be, but two things you can be sure of, you're doing a whole load more that many people out there so well done you and you probably won't ever get to be a world class weightlifting champion, so chill and get back into it in 14 days' time.

I'm away for 21 days FYI but I hear what you are saying

And no, I won't ever be a world Olympic lifter to the poster who needed to point that out!

Consensus from internet seems to be that gains begin to be lost after 3 weeks. I look at a holiday of a week as a deload week if I do not get to the gym as that makes me feel better about it.
And all your newly built muscle will definitely not jut disappear all at once!
Keep eating right when you're away

Over three weeks you really won’t lose strength or muscle at all. You’ll be able to pick up where you left off, especially if you plan to continue body weight training!

Depending on where you’re going, you might be able to pay for single use of a gym. I’ve done that on holiday a couple of times.

Some of the people in this thread might want to join us over on The Weights Room board 💪🏼

Oh cool, I didn’t know about that board - will join

You sound as if you have planned in some maintenance exercise, and I’m sure that once you get back from your trip, and back into training, you will see how quickly you can make up for a gap. I think you will be amazed just how quickly.

You certainly shouldn’t let this worry interfere with the enjoyment and benefit of taking a holiday, so perhaps this break will stop you from getting too obsessed with exercise.