Muscle Loss - When does it start?

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holabuster

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Hey guys, I have some pretty technical/biological questions about muscles for your pros. I was wondering how one's muscles reacts to not working out. Personally, I work out at least every other day for about 30-50 min at a time. If I don't work out for a day, a week, or a month, how much/when will my muscles start deteriorating?

I'm always afraid that I'll lose strength if I don't work out regularly. Thanks for any explaination on muscle growth/loss.
 
Your muscle won't really "deteriorate"...

I mean, after 1+ months of doing ABSOLUTELY nothing, then maybe you'll see some reduction in size...

But if you stop exercising, but doing moderate activity throughout the day, it should be fine.
 
Really? That's a bit comforting. You see, the thing is, I have to eat a LOT each day to keep my weight, not to mention increase it (i'm 144 headed to 155 lb.). So at times, I can't keep up and my weight drops 3 pounds in a day--I'm worried i'm losing muscle.

That brings me to my other question. I can never seem to gain enough weight. I get to 145 by nighttime and when I wake up, I'm back down to 142-143. I know some of it is water weight. Anyone have info on this? Thanks.
 
holabuster your a ectomorph so you will have to eat alot and smartly to gain muscle mass. Everybody is different but i would not take very long breaks from training if you want to be muscluar, 2weeks max. But its fine to take a break or deload every 8 to 10weeks. The more advanced you become the more you will have to pay attention to deloading and rest.
 
Hey, I didn't know we were gonna be callin names...jk.

Thanks for the info. I don't feel like I need breaks--I can always find time for a 30 min workout. But it's good to know I won't lose my gains from a few days off.

I have one last question. It's about abs. From an article I read in Men's Health, if you're looking to get a solid 6 pack, it is counterproductive to do ab work everyday. Supposedly, it makes them less visible.

"4. Skip the bonus abs routine



Edging closer to sharp abs can tempt you to work them every day. Don't. Training more can actually make your abs show less. "You don't need to overwork your abs--they're no different from any other muscle," says Hays. "If you're always in a state of overtraining, you're going to get more laxity in your muscles." In other words, they'll appear soft. Instead, add resistance to make moves you already do more challenging. For instance, hold a light weight plate during a Russian twist or Swiss-ball crunch. Then give your muscles time to rest."

Is this true?

I have a decent 6 pack right now:

12-28-05.jpg


That's moderately flexed. But I want to make my 6 pack more solid, especially at the top and bottom. Ideally, I'd have a really visible 6 pack without flexing.

Could any of you recommend exercises I could do/how I should approach working out my abs?
 
I would to weighted crunchs and cable crunchs twice a week. If your doing heavy squats, deads and overhead presses your abs will get that full and thick look that i think your looking for.
 
Uh oh, I'm not doing those. I don't have the proper equipment! I can only do squats on the smith machine and deads with those barbells that are weighted permanently (up to about 120). What are overhead presses?

Would it be okay to do squats and deads this way and how often? Thanks so much, newf.
 
Any shoulder press/military press, dumbell, barbell.

How come you not doing free weight squats? Tommorow i'll be squating 3x/wk and deadlifting once. Depends on your goals and volume.

If you have weights you can do weighted crunchs.
 
My school only has the smith machine available. I have only 2x 30 lb dumbbells to work with as home, but I do a lot with them (curls, military press, bent over rows, flys, and even incline bench).

How many weighted crunches should I be doing?

Btw, I think this is a cool exercise, never tried it. The Sicilian Crunch:
 
Yeah that's one way to do a weighted crunch.

I would do 3 or 4 sets. Reps depends on how hard they are. But i would try to get a weight that i can do 15reps with but not much more.
 
holabuster said:
That brings me to my other question. I can never seem to gain enough weight. I get to 145 by nighttime and when I wake up, I'm back down to 142-143. I know some of it is water weight. Anyone have info on this? Thanks.
Click to expand...

That's not unusual. I never weight myself first thing in the morning coz i'm afraid of what the scales might say but i have a feeling that i've lost about 1 - 2 Lbs overnight when i wake up. Keep in mind that you most likely havn't eaten in 8 - 10 hours and hadn't had any water in this time either and you lose alot of water in your sleep for some strange reason (well i do anyway) - I always wake up very thirsty.
 
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