I've heard people say that, if you're seriously trained and take a small break, you may lose strength, but the ability to get it back is beyond that of a lesser trained individual. In other words, if you take a few weeks off, you can probably get back to where you were in just one week's time max.

Is fitness this way too? If you were once very fit, is it easier to become equally as fit once again?

Because some people discuss how hard it is to get fit from step one. If you were and have been highly fit all of your life and take a set back of a few months, can you get fit again in a shorter time than when you, say, first ever became fit? I know because I've read of people who regained muscle quicker.

Basically, sort of like how muscles can adapt quicker if they've been used for long periods of time.

I've heard people say that, if you're seriously trained and take a small break, you may lose strength, but the ability to get it back is beyond that of a lesser trained individual. In other words, if you take a few weeks off, you can probably get back to where you were in just one week's time max.

Is fitness this way too? If you were once very fit, is it easier to become equally as fit once again?

Because some people discuss how hard it is to get fit from step one. If you were and have been highly fit all of your life and take a set back of a few months, can you get fit again in a shorter time than when you, say, first ever became fit? I know because I've read of people who regained muscle quicker.

Basically, sort of like how muscles can adapt quicker if they've been used for long periods of time.

The question that's claimed to be similar to this one fails to address the cardiovascular aspect of training. I expected insightful answers regarding cardiovascular adaptation, not muscular adaptation.