Lose Muscle on a Calorie Surplus?

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KMasz
KMasz Posts: 2,658 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
A random thought popped into my head this morning. I know that you cannot build muscle when strength training if you are eating at a calorie deficit (unless specific circumstances apply) and that fat does not convert to muscle... but what about the opposite? Can you lose muscle while eating at a calorie surplus if you are not strength training? I did a quick google search on the topic and did not find much of anything, but am more curious as to what the MFP community thinks anyway. Educate me, please.

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  • Quieau
    Quieau Posts: 428 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I'm guessing, YES! I ate at a surplus for many years while my muscles atrophied from lack of use ... that's how I got so heavy! I HAD more muscle years ago, before cancer set in and I became almost immobilized. The larger I got, the less muscle I had (seemed especially noticeable in core muscle groups, arms and legs lasted longer). That's my experience, anyway ...
  • FrenchMob
    FrenchMob Posts: 1,167 Member
    edited October 2014
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    If you're a complete couch potato, it's definitely possible. But it would take a lot of time.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,662 Member
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    your muscles are only larger because they are responding to a stimulis, take that away, and they will atrophy, tho perhaps not return to baseline.
    interesting that you mention 'fat does not convert to muscle'. Because i think the other side of this coin is the old myth that muscle turns into fat. If you stop lifting/exercising, but continue to eat the calories you needed to sustain a high activity level, then suprise suprise, you will put on fat. thats what happend to me in college.
  • 100andOnward
    100andOnward Posts: 145 Member
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    YES. The muscles need to be worked to continue to grow and not atrophy. Muscle doesn't convert to fat, per se, but it won't develop without being worked. Strength training is important!
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    It would depend on your starting point, I'm sure. If you are actively doing resistance exercise regularly and you stop, you are most likely going to lose some muscle. If you were not doing resistance activity, then you probably won't lose muscle, you may even gain some, depending on how much weight you gain. The more you weigh, the more muscle you need just haul your weight around during daily activities.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    Muscle atrophies due to reduced stimuli. Doesn't matter if one worked out hard or not. One doesn't really "lose" it per se, but it becomes unconditioned and "soft". It shrinks in size and loss of strength happens. To lose muscle, one would have to be in pretty high calorie deficit over a good period of time.

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  • KMasz
    KMasz Posts: 2,658 Member
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    ah atrophy, I knew I had to be forgetting about something. Thanks for your responses!

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