.png)
By Marcus Morgan, M.Ed., CPT Fitness Professional & Workout Planner
Photo at Bicycling.com
Don't Worry Too Much About Your Muscles Getting Smaller
"Will my muscles comeback after I leave the gym?" "Why do my muscles look so small after working out?" These are some popular questions for fitness enthusiast that decide to take a break from the gym. Sometimes we can worry about whether taking a break from exercise and muscle building will result in our muscles suddenly disappearing. This is not always the case, so feel safe my friend!
Why do our muscles get smaller?
Our muscles get smaller, or atrophy, for many reasons. Here are a few reasons that may come to mind.
Reducing the amount of regular resistance training or exercise
Not drinking enough water and the muscles aren't full
Not eating properly
Doing too much cardio and not balancing calories.
Muscles can look smaller after not eating overnight
When the blood pump goes away after a workout muscles can look smaller
So what can you do about it?...
Be Consistent, Just Do Something
If we continue working out and doing small exercises whenever and wherever we can, our muscles will remember the activation that they once underwent during resistance training sessions and look the same for longer. Though they may not stay as big after stepping away for awhile, a set of push-ups or bodyweight squats can delay muscular atrophy (of course, make sure you have the calories you need to maintain size.) Lose strength? Don't worry too much about quick strength losses, the mind-muscle connection that we use during our resistance training sessions help us depend on the the muscles like we used to; but, keep in mind, strength will slowly go away when the weight to lift is not present anymore.
Bottomline
Don't be afraid of losing weight too fast when you take a break from the gym. Muscles don't atrophy (the process of muscles weakening and getting smaller), overnight! The process of shrinking muscles can be delayed, if we simply maintain a healthy amount of calories, drink plenty of water, and perform simple exercises, we will find that our muscles have a long lived presence.
HFGFITNESSSUPPLIES4
Comments