Feel the burn and know it’s good

Continuous exercise will lead to changes to your physical appearance, finds Sophie Aubrey.

With Covid-19 lockdowns hopefully behind us, gyms back in business and increasing sunshine coaxing us back outside, you might find yourself returning your focus to your fitness.

But of course, getting back into an exercise regime is rarely pleasant.

‘‘Starting back is always difficult,’’ says Associate Professor Rob Robergs, an accredited exercise physiologist from Queensland University of Technology, explaining that we begin to lose our physical fitness rapidly when we stop training, in as little as one week.

‘‘These losses can occur up to 10 times faster than the gains do,’’ he says.

Robergs stresses the importance of reintroducing intense exercise into your routine because it offers enormous physical and mental health benefits.

From the moment you start exercising again, your body begins complex processes to rebuild its fitness and, while change is slow, it’s continuous and worth lacing up for the long haul for.

On the day of exercise

Exhausted, breathless and feeling clumsy? That’s OK. The first workout is unlikely to leave you feeling as accomplished as you might have hoped, Robergs says.

‘‘You’ll have the perception that things were much harder to do,’’ he says. ‘‘There’s a lot of physiology that goes into that movement.’’

Your brain is doing a lot of work to co-ordinate all these new nerve patterns to your muscles. ‘‘There’s a lot of mental effort that’s very subconscious,’’ he says.

When you take a break from working out, your body shrinks muscle fibres, and breaks down blood vessels in the muscles that are no longer being used. ‘‘The body is always trying to conserve as much energy as possible,’’ Robergs says.

It means when you return to exercise, you’re fatigued because high demand is being heaped on to your heart and lungs to increase blood flow through your contracting muscles, but your body has become less effective at doing this.

The upside? As your body pushes to oxygenate the muscles, this stimulates surrounding tissue to again start synthesising those blood vessels and muscle fibres you’d lost.

The day after

The main thing you’ll notice is aching muscles. Where the pain is will depend on your workout, but it’s possible that stairswon’t be your friend for three or four days. That’s because lengthening and contracting your muscles can cause microscopic damage, resulting in delayed onset muscle soreness, also known as ‘‘DOMS’’.

‘‘It’s an unfortunate part of the muscles’ response but it does improve the muscle structure and function,’’ Robergs says.

Another immediate effect you can expect after exercising is reduced appetite. ‘‘Most people think that if you exercise and expend calories, you’ll get really hungry, but if you’re hungry before working out, you’ll find that goes,’’ he says. ‘‘The hormonal response to exercise and the energies you expend reset the brain and sense of hunger.’’

You may also find your sleep improves. ‘‘Your body wants to repair overnight, that’s when all the adaptation occurs, all the repair to the muscles and improvements to fluid distribution, and all the important added protein synthesis to build more muscle fibres happens,’’ says Robergs.

After a week

At the end of the first week, you should ideally be not too sore, not injured, but feeling as though you’re more energetic and needing to do more. ‘‘It’s not about how far you can run or swim or how high you can jump, it’s about how you’re feeling.’’

The brain’s release of feel-good hormones – such as endorphins – while training is believed to be partly responsible for this shift in mindset, Robergs says. Exercise is well known for its moodboosting powers. It’s why some people eventually develop a deep-seated need to exercise regularly.

‘‘Once you’ve started back into training and you’ve overcome those first stress perceptions, there’s a craving for it.’’

After amonth

After amonth of regular exercise, you will be noticing improvements to your strength and fitness.

‘‘Youmay be able to do more reps in weight training or slightly raise the load, or you’re able to walk, jog or cycle a bit faster,’’ Robergs says.

‘‘Onemonth still isn’t a lot of time but you’ll notice you’re better able to tolerate your workout, and recovery doesn’t take as long.’’

With each session, your body works hard to develop larger muscle fibres and, as your muscles slowly gain in volume, they’re better able to store and use fuel in the form of carbohydrates and fats.

There’s also better supply of blood to your muscles. Your cardiovascular system is working better because increased hydration leads to larger blood volume. And the heart strengthens, efficiently pumping more blood around the body with each beat, allowing it to beat more slowly when resting.

You might notice you’re sweating more when training. That’s because your body has become better at regulating its temperature. ‘‘Your body is more sensitive to the need to remove heat, and as you get more physically fit, you are working harder and therefore producing more heat’’.

A month in, you may notice some minor changes to your appearance but this is a slow process, and visible change mainly comes about the three-month mark.

‘‘Themuscles become a bit more defined and more hypertrophied, but you might feel that more than see that. And body fat reduction is long term, usually beyond three months,’’ Robergs says.

Most importantly, at this point you should mentally be feeling really great. Consider this your ‘‘aha’’ moment.

‘‘If you can get to four good weeks of exercise, you’ve set yourself up to continue to succeed.’’

‘‘Where the pain is will depend on your workout, but it’s possible that stairs won’t be your friend for three or four days.’’

Rob Robergs

After a year

Those improvements to your strength and fitness after the first month will now be significantly larger. That means your endurance and ability to keep your muscles contracting will be better, as will the amount of load you can lift and the speed with which you do that action. You should also feel more flexible, agile and have less back and joint pain.

Whether or not it’s one of your goals, you’ll probably see changes to your physical appearance, be it your body weight or muscle mass.

You’ll also find your realm of potential recreational pursuits has broadened, Robergs says. Playing with little children might be less physically taxing, or you may now be able to do more challenging bush walks, and register for fun runs and swims.

The physical changes – a stronger heart, bones and muscles – play a key role in reducing your risk of developing serious health conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and obesity.

And regular exercise enormously benefits our mental wellbeing. Research has consistently found that people who work out regularly experience fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. Training can be as effective as antidepressant medication as they increase the size of the brain’s hippocampus.

And just generally, you will likely be feeling happier than you did a year ago. Research shows people who work out even once aweek tend to be more cheerful than those who never exercise. ‘‘The difference in someone’s mood and confidence is quite profound.’’