I think you get there quicker in part because you know how to. You know how your body reacts to training, resting, diet, so you can push it that little bit more. There might not be much in it - five weeks instead of six or something like that.

It can only return if you've it before.  Otherwise you just get it.

Thanks nedrapier, I do love a grammar pedant!

I think you mean "had it before"

Some adaptations are long term, others not. So it should come back a bit quicker if it's not been a really long time.

Yeah it's largely a myth for me that fitness comes back faster if you have been fit before, except for the fact that you have the know how for how to get fit and how to ride a bike. Having been very fast and fit on a bike years ago I now feel like I have a template in my head. I know how ride at sustainable pace, what 'red zoning' it feels like, how to pedal smooth, etc, how to put in base miles and how to recover.

Having said that I used to lift a lot of weights when I was younger and I feel I gained permanent or extra? motor control over the muscle groups that I trained or muscle memory or something. I don't know if this means I would get stronger faster but I feel I have more awareness of my body or something? Hard to explain.

you definitely have an awareness of how and you make big gains quick especially as younger but i do think thats a technique thing and knowing how my body responds.

Fairly winds the wife up as shes quick and trains hard - and i can get something into my head , focus and get back to probably 90% of my previous speed OR endurance in 6 weeks or so .... i cannot do both and i know/accept that. I can either be fast for short periods or slow for long periods.... We are talking a 2 year lay off from training and even commuting and just riding for leisure with periods of 5 + weeks with absolutely no cycling.

how i'm finding that as i've started running - its much harder to get fit for that as i'm starting from zero.

theres definately a correlation to previous fitness

yep, hands up to the typo.  And just to be a pedantry pedant, I wasn't really picking up on the grammar (plenty wrong with mine), just the usage and logic!

And while I'm typing, I agree rate of return to fitness is quicker than getting there in the first place.  Don't know why though. As above, it could be muscle memory, feelings memory, knowledge of process and limits, maybe the fact that you didn't go back to all the way unfit like you were first time round, you just feel comparatively unfit.

dunno people on here seem to think they lose their fitness in 3 days after getting sick .... I'm pretty sure 2 years should have an impact....

I’m pretty sure you get it back quicker. In contrast I've been gradually improving at running over almost a decade now. I have a couple of months of every year and quickly pick up to where I left off, but there doesn't seem any short cut to the long term improvement I've seen.

Massive difference in impact of a 2 year break because of work/family etc. circumstances but still eating/living healthy and looking after yourself and a 2 year drugs, drink and takeaway food bender though.

Motivation is often the hardest part IMO.

while what you say might be true - im not disclosing on here my personal circumstances but Chilled76 knows me and what I've done with my last 2 years.

lets just say its far from eating healthy and looking after my self.

Motivation and state of mind do play a large part.

I read an article a while back, and I can't quote it word for word, but it claimed that base fitness is lost over a very slow period of time and you certainly wouldn't lose it all over 6 months, say. Which makes perfect sense, you spend years building on the muscle tone and adapting your body to do something very particular very efficiently. It stands to reason that you could have six months or even a year off and get back to full fitness before a complete novice could get there to begin with.

this one?

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/training/detraining-the-truth-about-losing-fitness-22330

I reckon you get fitter quicker if you’ve been fit before a break.

For sure an interesting question.

I don't know the answer.

My guess: the skill you keep more or less.

The fitness you loose if you stop for a year or so...? And if you gained weight in this "lazy year" it might take two years or so to be at the old level (if you were very trained and very fit before the lazy year)?

Sorry Terry. Wasn't meaning you in particular. Just in general.
I've been a cainer most of my adult life with riding bikes being the only healthy vice I've ever stuck with. Even back when fit enough to race XC (badly) or do a decent 10TT time I was getting ****ed up at every opportunity (and they've always been plentiful) and fueling myself on shit. Everyone who knows me knows this.

Base fitness takes a long time to build as mentioned this is why it takes months to lose. You can't build a base in 6 weeks more like 6 months.

I'm currently having a 6 week break from cycling cos had to go overseas with work. I've done a bit of cycling on cycling machines just 30 mins maybe 2 out of 3 days but currently have a cold so resting.

It's really frustrating me cos I got quite fit this year. Hopefully can do 2 months of solid riding over Dec and Jan and be back to where I was. Then commute most of next year 25 miles a day.

Mean while I went from 2 years of sedantary life  being 10kg over ideal weight/20kg over race weight from eating drinking and flying too much to finishing the Cairngorm loop and dropping 7kg in 6weeks.

I can't imagine I did that on my natural talents.

How ever that was an outcome of a specific targeted system of training inputs that I knew would give me the outcome I needed.

I've continued it on due to life circumstances changing and I'm down to 10kg off.

Lots of it is down to knowing when you can push hard and when you need to back off -avoidinf the push hard get I'll cycle and the other part is that your long slow adaptions of heart and lungs that are gained over long times are pretty much already nailed and do not decrease inline with other muscles.

“Having said that I used to lift a lot of weights when I was younger and I feel I gained permanent or extra? motor control over the muscle groups that I trained or muscle memory or something. I don’t know if this means I would get stronger faster but I feel I have more awareness of my body or something?”

When you strength train you increase the quantity of myonuclei (whether you’re increasing strength, size or both of the muscle). When you stop you keep the increased number of nuclei, so even if your increase in strength and/or size is completely lost, when you train again it returns more rapidly because you already have the extra myonuclei you need.

Cheers for the input gents.

Guess I'll find out. I peaked at the start of June this year then almost stopped. Have thrown in a few really short rides and a few runs but I was riding 10hrs a week before that.

I've been eating and drinking like the world is about to end for 5 months and gained about 7kg.

Terry, I'm watching your running with interest!