Fitness comes and goes

What do we know about the effect of training on our fitness and health? How quickly can I improve my fitness and how long will this effect last?

If you train a lot, you’ll see a big impact: Scientific research shows that a certain degree of physical activity has a positive effect on health (WHO, 2010). Guidelines state that 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity with additional strength training are important for a healthy life. Moreover, additional training increases the positive health effects even further (Kyu et al., 2016). We maintain: there are scientific parameters regarding fitness and health benefits depending on which physical activities we do.

Unfortunately these positive training effects can also be lost again: How long-lasting the effects of a training block are can vary widely - depending on which skill has been trained, how quickly it was established and what training experience there is. The following table shows how long different training effects last: Performance decreases considerably quicker for short, intensive workouts (anaerobic capacity and speed strength) than for basic skills like maximum strength and general endurance (Koprivica, 2012).

To summarise, we must assume that most training effects decline again after about 28 days of inactivity.
 

Sticking with it pays off! 
Training effects which are built up evenly over a longer period of time last longer than those which are achieved very quickly. Training experience also plays a large role. If you have a sporting background, you will be able to maintain regained performance capabilities for longer than people with no training experience (Zatsiorsky and William, 2006).

Making long-term health effects visible

The principle of EGYM activity levels is simple: For every activity you receive activity points which correspond to the energy expenditure and health benefits. To reach a higher level, you need to achieve a certain number of activity points in a 28 day period. The fitter you are, the more you need to do to get even more positive health effects. And the higher your level, the more points you need to ascend even further. When you reach a new level, your points are reset. At first it’s about maintaining this new level in order to then climb up to the next highest level again. 
After inactivity or too little training, your health benefits - as seen above - will be lost again. Therefore you can not only obtain an activity level, you can also lose it again! 
This means that if you hardly train in a 28 day period and you fall below the number of points needed to maintain your level, you move down a level again.

 All the point thresholds for individual activity levels on the EGYM Member app are based on scientific studies which investigated the effects of a certain degree of physical activity on people’s health. If you reach a new level, the app shows you the resulting health effects. If you reach Gold level, for example, you are training exactly the amount the World Health Organization (WHO) specifies as a minimum recommendation. Try to aim for Platinum level to get even fitter!

Individual time frame

The activity levels are a personal indicator of your current level of fitness. Your points are, as described, always reset to zero when you reach a new level, or your 28 day training period comes to an end. You therefore need to try to get as many points as possible in your personal time frame. The gym ranking also works with activity points. Whilst activity levels are oriented towards the user’s individual performances, the studio ranking is about the motivation of comparing yourself with others. 
The cycle of the studio ranking is always determined by the calendar month. This means all the members of a studio start on the first of the month and try to get as many points as possible. At the beginning of the next month, all the points are reset and the contest starts anew.

Thus the activity levels and the studio rankings work to different time frames. This explains the potential difference in points between your personal activity levels and the studio ranking.

Activity points as the basis of calculation

Activity points are the currency in which activity is measured. These are automatically credited to you on the app for every workout completed. The more energy, i.e. kilocalories, you burn in training, the more points you get.

 Now we know, however, that ten reps of bench presses, for example, with 60 kg on the bar are much easier for a strong 90 kg man than for a slim woman. We create fairness here by using the metabolic equivalent (MET). 1 MET minute corresponds exactly to the energy cost of sitting quietly for a minute. The amount of energy for 1 MET is different for everyone and is mainly influenced by your weight and body composition. The heavier you are and the more muscle mass you have, the more energy you burn at rest. We use the most precise formula to calculate your resting energy expenditure depending on what information we have about you (weight, sex, height, age and body fat percentage). For a rough estimate, you can just use your body weight:

Rough estimate
one minute sitting quietly = 1 MET minute (kcal) = body weight (kg) / 60
To get the resulting activity points, the energy used during the workout is set to your resting energy expenditure (1 MET minute):

Activity points = Energy use during workout / 1 MET minute (kcal)

Please note that points calculated like this can deviate from the actual values as the basal metabolic rate is only based on a very rough estimate here! 
Activity points therefore correspond to the precise multiple of energy you would burn in sitting for a minute. 10 activity points therefore correspond to the amount of energy used to sit for 10 minutes. This system creates fairness so that strong people have to do more to receive the same number of EGYM activity points.
 

Find out more about EGYM activity points here, including how you can deduce the energy expended from the activity points.

References

Sportlogia: Block Periodization – A Breakthrough Or A Misconception.

Systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013: Physical activity and risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and ischemic stroke events.

World Health Organization: Global recommendations on physical activity for health.

Human Kinetics: Science and Practice of Strength Training.