Laid up - Losing Muscle mass

rosiedoo169
rosiedoo169 Posts: 9 Member
edited October 1 in Fitness and Exercise
Disclaimer: this may well be a stupid question.

Hi - normally I do walking during the week for cardio and throw in some light strength training for my upper body at the weekends. Nothing major, just to keep those muscles toned. It's working for me, the weight is coming off.
However, I've been laid up with a bad head cold for about 5 days now and haven't done any exercise. The scales are showing a loss of around 3lb in that time!
Obviously if this is 3lb of fat I am not complaining! but I accept it's probably just fluids or something.
I'm concerned though that I may be losing muscle mass. Would you lose it in that short length of time? Anything you would suggest to stop it? Obviously exercising is the obvious solution but I'm so weak....
Thanks for any help.

Replies

  • nsimportant
    nsimportant Posts: 170 Member
    If You are so concerned about muscle mass, eat abit more calories and protein while you are not exercising.
    If You have alot of weight to loose don't bust your head over it its really unlikely that Your body will eat Your muscles.
  • rosiedoo169
    rosiedoo169 Posts: 9 Member
    Cool. Thanks.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    If you are not strength training, eating protein will not offset that. Protein is not a "muscle builder" in and of itself--you still have to train.

    The short term losses you might experience due to inactivity are not all that significant--and it's probably not "muscle" in just 5 days. If the scale change does represent a loss of "lean mass", it is more likely it is stored glycogen and plasma volume. Any short-term changes will come back relatively quickly once you resume training.
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