DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am forced to take a rest from my exercise program for about two months. How will this affect me? I have been actively training for the past 10 years and am in pretty good shape. – L.P.

ANSWER: Deconditioning occurs fairly rapidly. In the 1960s, exercise scientists conducted an experiment called The Rest and Training Study. They put young men, in their early 20s, to bed rest for three weeks. They tested the men’s strength and endurance before they were put to bed and again after the three weeks in bed. As expected, the men’s fitness had regressed to levels way below the levels they had possessed at the beginning of the experiment. It took these young men eight weeks of rigorous training to get themselves to the state they had been in at the beginning of this experiment.

Thirty years later, the experimenters rounded up the same men, now in their 50s. During the 30 years, none had engaged in any physical training. They were mostly sedentary. Still, their level of fitness was greater than it had been after they spent those three weeks in bed rest when they were in their 20s.

The men were then put into a supervised exercise program. After six months, they had attained a state of fitness that was superior to their fitness when they were 20 and were first tested before bed rest.

Ask anyone who has had an arm or a leg in a cast. That person can tell you how much the muscles of the casted limb shrunk and how long it took to get those muscles back to their former size and strength.

The point is that inaction brings about a loss of fitness rapidly. Admittedly, most people aren’t forced to take weeks of bed rest. All the same, conditioning gains are lost quickly without maintaining an exercise schedule.

There is a bright side to all this. Well-trained men and women can maintain their gains by exercising only one day a week. They will not make any improvements, but they can stem the losses with one day of exercise.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What can you tell me about Scheuermann’s disease? My 12-year-old son has it. His lumbar vertebrae are shrinking. Will the process move up into the upper back area? Is he limited in his activities? He is asymptomatic. – J.T.

ANSWER: Scheuermann’s disease is a disorder that affects vertebral (backbone) ossification (bone development) of pre-pubertal and pubertal children. As many as 8 percent of children have it to some degree. Usually the involved backbones are in the upper back (the thoracic area). Lower back (lumbar) involvement is unusual.

How to treat this process depends on the child’s age, how many of the backbones are affected and how severely, and the presence or absence of pain. Your son’s lack of pain is a major plus.

With little pain and little deformity, little needs to be done.

When the backbones are more severely damaged and when there is pain, an exercise program is often suggested.

With advanced deformity, braces are used.

The examining doctor is the one who must set the rules for your son’s activity. A youngster who has no pain is usually allowed to play any sport. Gymnastics and wrestling might be two sports that the doctor puts off-limits.

The process is not likely to affect the boy’s upper backbones.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband and I have a disagreement on how long one should walk on a treadmill. My doctor recommended that I exercise five times a week for 30 minutes a day. There are days when I have time and like to walk for 45 minutes, and sometimes an hour and a half. My husband feels that 30 minutes is what the doctor recommended and that I should not do more than that. I walk at a pace between 2 and 3 miles per hour. – Anon.

ANSWER: Unless your doctor said you have a medical condition, such as heart disease, that imposes a limit on your exercise, you can walk till the cows come home if you feel like it.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.

Copy the Story Link