Contents:
- Medical Video: Does Playing Sports Negatively Impact Muscle Growth?
- Muscles can shrink after you stop exercising
- So, does the lost muscle turn into fat?
- Must be diligent in exercising and eating healthy if you want to keep the muscle mass durable
Medical Video: Does Playing Sports Negatively Impact Muscle Growth?
Getting a muscular body like a bodybuilder requires hard work and high level of perseverance. But after all the hard work and heavy drops of sweat that have spilled all this time, is it true that muscles can shrink when we stop exercising?
Muscles can shrink after you stop exercising
During exercise, your body actually does not create new muscles but forges existing muscles to make them bigger and stronger. Regular exercise can also widen the vessels to facilitate blood flow to the muscle cells to stimulate them to work more actively. As a result, your muscle mass will look bigger and clearer.
Now when you stop exercise, the blood flow will no longer focus on the muscle cells. The body also begins to adjust to your new lifestyle changes by re-narrowing the body's capillaries. Reduced blood flow to the muscles makes the muscles that have been formed now become smaller and less mass, not completely disappear.
Pete McCall, a physiological exercise expert at the American Council on Exercise, stated that over time the muscles realized that they did not need to save too much energy. As a result, glycogen stored in muscle decreases which can result in reduced muscle mass (muscle atrophy) due to not being used for a long time due to lack of physical activity. Therefore the muscles will look smaller, not then completely lost, after stopping exercise.
Just imagine a balloon filled with air, then deflate it slowly slowly. That's about the effect on muscles after you stop exercising. When the muscles have shrunk, you need extra effort to make it come back to the surface.
So, does the lost muscle turn into fat?
Keep in mind that fat and muscle are two different things. Muscle cells and fat cells are two different types of cells so that they do not have the ability to exchange positions. When you stop exercising, muscle mass does decrease and shrink. However, that does not mean the muscles turn into fat.
If you experience fat buildup in previously muscular parts of the body, it's a sign that you consume more calories than your body needs. Excessive calorie intake is converted by the body into fat deposits, which are also stored in various parts of the body that were muscular.
Must be diligent in exercising and eating healthy if you want to keep the muscle mass durable
To maintain your muscle mass, the key is to continue to exercise regularly and promote a healthy and balanced diet. This healthy lifestyle can also prevent fat buildup in the body.
Try to keep exercising 10 to 20 minutes a day to keep muscles strong. Simple exercises like stretching, push ups and sit ups besides forming muscle can also help your body flexibility.
