Did I lose my muscles?
I'm 18 and was previously quite active. I danced plus worked out 5-7 days a week doing cardio and strength-training at the gym. Recently I became ill and had to go on bed rest for a month and a half. I ate quite a bit and was--obviously--not active. I'm out and about now, and I've noticed I gained about 10 pounds. I looked in the mirror and saw that my once-visible muscles no longer could be seen. Did my muscles atrophy or do I just have a thick layer of fat covering the muscles?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
When you stop working out abruptly ESPECIALLY due to an illness your muscles will litteraly eat themselves because to sustain increased muscle mass your body needs to be constantly put under load (working out). When you remove the increased strain placed on the muscle what happens is your body goes back to it's most energy "efficient" state. This is why you loose muscle after you stop working out.
In hand with the above goes fatgain. Your increased caleroic intake and lower acticity level create an equation which equals calories in > calories out thus you gain fat? Simple.
If you exercise allot then suddenly stop your muscles will turn to fat. Also because you weren't doing any cardio exercise then you wouldn't have lost any of the weight that you put on while you were ill. That's probably the reason that you gained 10 pounds. Now that your better the best thing you can do to get fit again is just to get back to the gym.
Your muscles probably didn't atrophy, that is really bad, but you did lose muscle tone and mass. You also gained fat. Go back to the gym and you will get your muscle back.
well i you ate alot..and the right foods..you shouldnt have lost much..you proballt lost a little and the little turned into fat..if you ate too little and crappy foods.the yes you lost muscle...because when you exercise just about everyday your body will grow and need protein and amino acids to repair and build back musle tissue this is called anabolism..when you stop..everything slows down..so your body will absorb more of what your eating.but without the right proteins..your body will eat your muscle for energy..this is called catabolism..a bodybuilders worst nightmare.some ways to counter this is aminogen ad BCAA supplements and a fat burner..then get right back on yuor cardio and workout routine with water..i might be helpull to get a good protein shake in there instead of junk food..try syntha6 or nitrotech..good luck..check out bodybuilding.com
Most likely prior to your bed rest you had a good combination of "calories in vs calories out". While inactive it would probably be safe to say you continued your calories in but decreased your calories out. Sounds like you just increased body fat% due to inactivity. Get back in the gym and resume your calories out and you should be o.k. When you get back into the gym I strongly suggest to get your body fat% checked. This should be done monthly to track your progress.
Both.
So cut the calories, and start the aerobics!
Good luck.
fat