Quote (SeaBas @ Feb 28 2010 02:57pm)
Hey
Question:
How do your muscles work when you stop working out for a while? If you don't use your muscles in the way you did when you worked out a lot, they will slowly 'dissapear' ? How long does this take?
When you don't work out for a week, a month, 6 months, what kind of effect would this have when you keep following the right diet?
If left unworked, the muscles only "shrink" in size from the lack of blood flow, nitric oxide, and nutrients that can only be forced to the muscle from a "pump"
The actual muscle density doesn't change unless your body starts catabolizing the muscle tissue for nutrition (this happens when you go long periods of time without proper protein/amino support)
However, strength will lessen over time if the muscles are not used - although it is fairly easy to regain prior strength with a few weeks of intense training after being off for a while through "muscle memory" which isn't really memory, but more like a deflated balloon inflating once more.