What happens when you stop?..

Koldnomore
Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
One of the many road blocks I have to 'working out' and lifting weights in general is because I guess I really don't know what happens when you stop..so I know..don't stop. Yeah, easier said than done. I'm no teenager. I'm almost 40..yeah yeah I know..Lots of women lift in their 40's and 50's etc but eventually I won't be able to do it anymore, even worse, I might develop a medical issue and not be able to do it..and then what?

Do all the muscles turns back into fat? How fast? If I go on holidays and can't lift for a while what happens? Do you lose definition? muscle? I used to lift weights about 2 years ago - I tried again a few days ago (I hate DOMS!) I can still seem to lift very nearly as much as before. I might have been able to actually, but I didn't want to risk overdoing it , of course I probably did anyway given my soreness state :P I was never trim so I don't know what happened to the muscles under my layer of fat but now that I am losing that layer I am curious.

If you are fit and trim do you go back to 'skinny fat' if you have to stop working out / lifting weights for a while?

Replies

  • plafleur76
    plafleur76 Posts: 107 Member
    Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger as an example. I would think that is what happens. But I am not at that point yet.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    Muscle doesn't turn into fat.

    But, if you stop lifting, your muscles will atrophy, you will lose your CNS adaptations to lifting, and, if you're in a caloric surplus, you'll gain fat.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Muscle shrinks and is not as metabolically active if it's not needed.

    So besides eating less because you aren't exercising, a tad less yet because your BMR/RMR went down.

    But how much better to enter the state of needing to do less because of injury or age with the best metabolism you can get, rather than already having a slow one because of lower LBM and muscle.

    It does indeed take a long time for muscle to thin back down, longer to actually lose it.
    I've seen comments of retaining 50% muscle up to a year later with no lifting, just normal life usage.

    Obviously, throw someone into bed in a coma, that changes.
  • thistimeismytime
    thistimeismytime Posts: 711 Member
    I stopped lifting for 4 looooooonnnnnngggg years after I had babies. My muscles didn't "turn to fat", but I DID get fat!! lol...But I could still feel my abs and biceps underneath the layers of fluffiness. I think I lost some muscle tone for sure, but it doesn't just "poof"--disappear if you take some time off from lifting. It's a long, slow process, and it's probably a little different for each individual.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    OK muscles not turning to fat has been covered.......I'm not certain why you think that having to stop exercising is inevitable. Ed Whitlock (82) ran a 3:30 marathon a month or so ago, Faluja Singh became the first person over the age of 100 to complete a marathon last year. Jack Lalanne (the godfather of fitness)was in impressive physical condition right up to his death at age 96.

    Perhaps extreme examples but there is a growing body of research demonstrating the incredible benefits of regular, vigorous exercise for the "elderly" including resistance training. While it is not guaranteed to stave off the ravages of time a regular fitness routine is the closes thing we've got to the fountain of youth.

    My plan is to keep going as long as I can.
  • bgelliott
    bgelliott Posts: 610 Member
    Muscle does not turn to fat. That's like saying bones turn to blood. Not gonna happen. Muscle cells are completely different from fat cells, and they do not have the physical capability to interchange into one another.

    If you stop lifting you will sustain muscle loss over time but the only way you will gain fat is if you eat crap instead of eating healthy and clean and if you eat more calories than you burn.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    My plan is to keep going as long as I can.
    This is my plan as well. All we can do is work to slow the muscle loss.

    Here's an article about slowing the muscle loss that occurs with aging.

    http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2012/03/05/stopping_age_related_muscle_loss/?page=1
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    My plan is to keep going as long as I can.
    This is my plan as well. All we can do is work to slow the muscle loss.

    Here's an article about slowing the muscle loss that occurs with aging.

    http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2012/03/05/stopping_age_related_muscle_loss/?page=1

    Thanks for your replies everyone! and that was a very informative article.

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