This is What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Exercising

Apparently Healthy but Deconditioned Individuals

So what happens to the body when physical activity comes to a grinding halt?

People, be they elite athletes or regular gym-goers, get injured, take extended fitness breaks, or simply lose interest. Exercise physiologists refer to such people as “apparently healthy but deconditioned individuals,” and the effects of detraining are profound, to say the least—but it largely depends on the person’s initial fitness level. As Pino explained to me: “The fitter you are, the harder you fall.”

It’s a sentiment mirrored by Bergdahl, who says an athlete’s fitness drops faster the fitter they are.

via This is What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Exercising.