Muscle question
Wombat468
Posts: 191 Member
I'm not sure how to put this but I hope it makes sense!
I know that if you lift while you're losing weight, you'll retain some muscle. If you then don't lift at all after that, and you're at maintenance, will you keep the muscle you retained while you were losing, or will you lose it, leaving you in the same situation as if you'd never lifted when you were losing? Any thoughts?
I know that if you lift while you're losing weight, you'll retain some muscle. If you then don't lift at all after that, and you're at maintenance, will you keep the muscle you retained while you were losing, or will you lose it, leaving you in the same situation as if you'd never lifted when you were losing? Any thoughts?
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If you stop lifting, you will get weaker because the muscles will not be used in the same way. But if you are not losing weight but if you eat at maintenance, you may be able to eat enough protein to minimize losing muscle.
But why would you want to stop lifting? It's like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop!4 -
I think it depends on your life conditioning (training) on how well your muscle adapts. But, I don't know. It seems I have to do something to maintain (especially for strength).0
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I think it depends on your life conditioning (training) on how well your muscle adapts. But, I don't know. It seems I have to do something to maintain (especially for strength).
I would hazard this way of thinking...strength drop for sure, muscle will have much to do with genetics and how physical you are in life outside the gym.0 -
samanthaluangphixay wrote: »If you stop lifting, you will get weaker because the muscles will not be used in the same way. But if you are not losing weight but if you eat at maintenance, you may be able to eat enough protein to minimize losing muscle.
But why would you want to stop lifting? It's like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop!
Well it's not so much that I'm stopping, it's just that I was lifting 3-4 times a week before and now down to 1-2 times because I've taken up cycling too. I just don't want to lose all my muscle!
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CiaraCatch wrote: »samanthaluangphixay wrote: »If you stop lifting, you will get weaker because the muscles will not be used in the same way. But if you are not losing weight but if you eat at maintenance, you may be able to eat enough protein to minimize losing muscle.
But why would you want to stop lifting? It's like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop!
Well it's not so much that I'm stopping, it's just that I was lifting 3-4 times a week before and now down to 1-2 times because I've taken up cycling too. I just don't want to lose all my muscle!
Oh okay...I'm sure you'll be fine! Also cycling is good for your lower body muscles. :-)0 -
As long as you're still lifting and eating at maintenance you should be fine. You're still using the muscles which signals your body that you "need" them. Many of the lifting programs I've seen have recommended 2 to 3 days each week on the same muscle groups to build muscle. If you're planning to simply maintain I don't see that 1 - 2 days per week is going to undo all of your hard work.CiaraCatch wrote: »samanthaluangphixay wrote: »If you stop lifting, you will get weaker because the muscles will not be used in the same way. But if you are not losing weight but if you eat at maintenance, you may be able to eat enough protein to minimize losing muscle.
But why would you want to stop lifting? It's like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop!
Well it's not so much that I'm stopping, it's just that I was lifting 3-4 times a week before and now down to 1-2 times because I've taken up cycling too. I just don't want to lose all my muscle!
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CiaraCatch wrote: »I'm not sure how to put this but I hope it makes sense!
I know that if you lift while you're losing weight, you'll retain some muscle. If you then don't lift at all after that, and you're at maintenance, will you keep the muscle you retained while you were losing, or will you lose it, leaving you in the same situation as if you'd never lifted when you were losing? Any thoughts?
If you stop lifting weights you will lose a large percentage of your muscle mass.
You will also probably gain weight as your maintenance calories would drop due to the loss in muscle mass.0 -
Tedebearduff wrote: »CiaraCatch wrote: »I'm not sure how to put this but I hope it makes sense!
I know that if you lift while you're losing weight, you'll retain some muscle. If you then don't lift at all after that, and you're at maintenance, will you keep the muscle you retained while you were losing, or will you lose it, leaving you in the same situation as if you'd never lifted when you were losing? Any thoughts?
If you stop lifting weights you will lose a large percentage of your muscle mass.
You will also probably gain weight as your maintenance calories would drop due to the loss in muscle mass.
I don't think that is accurate. The burn difference between muscle and fat and is pretty minimal, certainly not enough to make the average person gain weight.0 -
You only have the muscles you use.0
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CiaraCatch wrote: »Well it's not so much that I'm stopping, it's just that I was lifting 3-4 times a week before and now down to 1-2 times because I've taken up cycling too. I just don't want to lose all my muscle!
If you lift heavy enough you can hit each muscle once a week and not lose anything. You might even gain, depending on how much cycling you're doing and how many calories you're eating.0 -
CiaraCatch wrote: »samanthaluangphixay wrote: »If you stop lifting, you will get weaker because the muscles will not be used in the same way. But if you are not losing weight but if you eat at maintenance, you may be able to eat enough protein to minimize losing muscle.
But why would you want to stop lifting? It's like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop!
Well it's not so much that I'm stopping, it's just that I was lifting 3-4 times a week before and now down to 1-2 times because I've taken up cycling too. I just don't want to lose all my muscle!
It takes significantly less work to maintain muscle than to build muscle (I've seen estimates at as little as 1/3rd of the volume, so if you were doing 3 sets before you could do 1 set to maintain). You may not build muscle/strength at 1-2x/week (this depends on various factors), but if you maintain the intensity you should maintain both the muscle and strength you've developed so far.1 -
Thanks for all the replies - it sounds like I might do okay, then!! I appreciate your advice.0
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nordlead2005 wrote: »CiaraCatch wrote: »samanthaluangphixay wrote: »If you stop lifting, you will get weaker because the muscles will not be used in the same way. But if you are not losing weight but if you eat at maintenance, you may be able to eat enough protein to minimize losing muscle.
But why would you want to stop lifting? It's like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop!
Well it's not so much that I'm stopping, it's just that I was lifting 3-4 times a week before and now down to 1-2 times because I've taken up cycling too. I just don't want to lose all my muscle!
It takes significantly less work to maintain muscle than to build muscle (I've seen estimates at as little as 1/3rd of the volume, so if you were doing 3 sets before you could do 1 set to maintain). You may not build muscle/strength at 1-2x/week (this depends on various factors), but if you maintain the intensity you should maintain both the muscle and strength you've developed so far.
^ That is pretty much how I maintain.0 -
Sarcopenia. In physically inactive people about 0.5% of lean muscle mass is lost every year between the ages of 25 and 60. From age 60 on, the rate of loss doubles to about 1% per year. It doubles again at age 70, again at age 80, and then again at age 90. People who don't use their muscles reach the threshold of disability at age 60. Use it or loose it. Exactly how much exercise is needed? I don't know, but you probably don't maintain it as effortlessly as you hope.
Another factor of diet without exercise is that the lean weight that you loose isn't just beach muscles, it is skeletal muscle and even organ tissue. So if you yo-yo diet without exercise you are doing more damage than if you just stayed fat. If you are interested in long term health it's not about what you like, it's about what you need.2 -
CiaraCatch wrote: »samanthaluangphixay wrote: »If you stop lifting, you will get weaker because the muscles will not be used in the same way. But if you are not losing weight but if you eat at maintenance, you may be able to eat enough protein to minimize losing muscle.
But why would you want to stop lifting? It's like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop!
Well it's not so much that I'm stopping, it's just that I was lifting 3-4 times a week before and now down to 1-2 times because I've taken up cycling too. I just don't want to lose all my muscle!
As long as you're stimulating your muscles at least once a week, you shouldn't lose them.0 -
It takes more with age. Don't get complacent, you'll regret that later. I learned that the hard way.0
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The answer to your question is based on science, specifically protein synthesis.
It's not about exercise alone, but what you consume, muscle metabolism, and satellite cells. I know the biology is mind numbing, but if you comprehend the fundamentals of muscle metabolism, you will be able to design your diet and exercise plan for optimal muscle development.
In plain English, after you lift, the amount of protein in your system for 12-48 hours post-exercise determines muscle growth. If you don't have the necessary amount of protein in your system, there's little effect from exercise. You don't increase the number of satellite cells.
To increase muscle, you have to increase satellite cells. We are born with satellite cells; but we can increase the number through protein muscle synthesis.
Once we increase the number of satellite cells, they remain in the body. When you exercise, they repair and regenerate the muscle tissue. When you stop exercising they go dormant. Muscle size then decreases. But if you start exercising again, the satellite cells return to life and quickly regenerate muscle. That's why people who were once in exceptional shape can go from flabby to fit in about a quarter of the time it takes for those who were never fit.
The more complicated explanation:
1. Muscle cannot grow/regenerate/repair without protein muscle synthesis.
2. The window of post-exercise metabolic interaction (the potential of the exercise to influence muscle protein metabolism) is 12-48 hour
3. What you eat during that window has a direct impact on increasing muscle (muscle hypertrophy)
4. Muscle hypertrophy depends on satellite cells
5. Satellite cells repair/regenerate muscle fiber
6. We can increase the number of satellite cells (subsequently increase muscle) through protein synthesis.
7. Maximum protein muscle synthesis occurs when there is an increase in dietary amino acids during that 12-48 hour window
8. After we increase satellite cells, they remain in the muscle fiber
9. If we stop exercising, they go dormant
10. If we start exercising again, they quickly regenerate muscle0
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