{"id":3312,"date":"2025-02-19T22:58:59","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T11:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/the-timeframe-for-losing-muscle-mass.html"},"modified":"2025-02-19T22:58:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T11:58:59","slug":"the-timeframe-for-losing-muscle-mass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/the-timeframe-for-losing-muscle-mass.html","title":{"rendered":"The Timeframe for Losing Muscle Mass"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, you can\u2019t work out \u2014 on account of illness, work stress, gym closure, or life upheaval. It happens. As you get your life back on track, you may start to worry about your waning fitness. How long does it take to lose the muscle mass you built in the weeks, months, or years you\u2019ve been diligently working out?<\/p>\n

The answer depends on a number of factors, but the good news is that the damage to your\u00a0hard-earned muscle mass\u00a0may be less extensive \u2014 and more easily reparable \u2014 than you think. And that applies even if you have to take a lengthy break from strength training.<\/p>\n

How Long Does It Take to Lose Muscle Mass for Men and Women?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a disciplined, three- to five-day-a-week exerciser who has to reduce your activity to walks, housework, and the like for an extended period, studies have found you can probably get away with\u00a0about a three-week break\u00a0before you start to lose strength and muscle mass.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, atrophy \u2014 loss of muscle mass \u2014 is real. When you stop challenging your muscles, they lose both strength and size. That\u2019s to be expected.<\/p>\n

Like a high-end sports car, an athletic body requires more energy to maintain than one that\u2019s less muscular, so when you no longer need it, your body offloads surplus mass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe training principle of\u00a0reversibility\u00a0is real,\u201d says exercise physiologist and fitness podcaster Lonnie Lowery, Ph.D., R.D. \u201cUse it or lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In certain cases, muscle can atrophy alarmingly fast. Bedrest, for example can cause a\u00a012 percent loss of muscle strength per week. And exposure to zero-gravity can result in a\u00a020 percent loss of muscle mass after only five to 11 days.<\/p>\n

But those are extreme cases \u2014 strength and muscle loss doesn\u2019t happen all at once. A 2015\u00a0study\u00a0of middle-aged men and women who strength-trained for 16 weeks maintained some added strength and endurance even after a training break of a similar duration.<\/p>\n

So your muscle mass won\u2019t melt away like candle wax if circumstances prevent you from exercising \u2014 even for an extended period.<\/p>\n

Do Trained Athletes Lose Muscle Mass Slower?<\/h2>\n

Elite athletes lose some markers of fitness faster than the general population. The\u00a0VO2 max \u2014 a key measure of cardiovascular function \u2014 of high-level runners, for example, can drop up to 12 percent\u00a0in two weeks.<\/p>\n

But trained athletes can\u00a0preserve much of their muscular strength, size, and endurance for periods longer than two weeks. The lesson? Once attained, muscle mass is relatively hard to get rid of.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s likely for the same reason why it\u2019s hard to gain in the first place: There\u2019s just not a lot of change \u2014 up or down \u2014 in muscle mass on a week-to-week basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes several weeks to notice [changes],\u201d Lowery says. \u201cEven in a lab that measures\u00a0body composition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Age Play a Role in Muscle Loss?<\/h2>\n

\"Older<\/p>\n

In healthy adults, muscle mass\u00a0peaks around age 30 and declines thereafter at a rate of three to five percent per decade. So when it comes to preserving or gaining lean mass, the over-30 crowd is swimming against a current of muscle loss. The younger crowd is not.<\/p>\n

Still, that current is a slow one. For the average person weighing 150 to 200 pounds, a one percent loss of muscle mass is less than two pounds of muscle. And that\u2019s what you\u2019re likely to lose in a full year without any formal exercise.<\/p>\n

How to Minimize Muscle Loss During a Break<\/h2>\n

Want to keep as much muscle as possible while you\u2019re on an involuntary fitness holiday? Try these tips.<\/p>\n

1. Improvise<\/h3>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

You can maintain, and even gain, muscle mass very effectively without a gym or much equipment \u2014 you just need some creativity and commitment. And even a small amount of formal exercise \u2014 say, 30 minutes two to three times a week \u2014 can help you hold onto your muscle mass and strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome type of weight bearing, even with\u00a0calisthenics\u00a0or a single dumbbell or kettlebell, will help fight atrophy,\u201d Lowery says. You don\u2019t need a complex program or expensive equipment when all you\u2019re trying to do is keep from backsliding \u2014 you just need to work hard and stay consistent.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t panic<\/h3>\n

If you do lose some mass during your break from training, \u201cmuscle memory\u201d will be your friend when you get back into the swing of things. Strength-trained women in a\u00a02017 study\u00a0regained much of the strength they lost in their seven-month break after just six weeks of training.<\/p>\n

3. Keep up the protein<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re so crunched you simply can\u2019t squeeze in any exercise, don\u2019t cut protein drastically. In fact, Lowery recommends\u00a0keeping protein intake high\u00a0\u2014 close to a gram per pound of bodyweight. \u201cAthletes tend to think about protein intake during times of gains,\u201d says Lowery. \u201cBut it\u2019s also important to prevent losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protein shakes are a convenient tool to keep your protein intake high when you\u2019re away from your regular exercise routine. With one scoop of Beachbody Performance Recover, for example, you\u2019ll get 20 grams of high-quality protein, and you can bump that number up even more with a few extra ingredients.<\/p>\n

4. Switch your focus<\/h3>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Most lifters give short shrift to cardiovascular fitness and mobility. But the research above suggests that they\u2019re among the first things to go during a break from exercise. So one strategy during an enforced layoff is to switch your focus from muscle building to\u00a0boosting your cardio fitness,\u00a0flexibility, and mobility.<\/p>\n

Equipment demands are minimal, and the new stimulus will likely do your entire body good. That way, when you\u00a0get back to your\u00a0lifting routine, you\u2019ll have lost minimal strength and muscle.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also be leaner, more mobile, and more\u00a0enduring\u00a0than ever. Not a bad tradeoff for a few weeks off from pumping iron.<\/p>\n

5. Trust your training<\/h3>\n

Finally, if you\u2019re a very dedicated exerciser and rarely take more than a day or two off from training, it\u2019s possible that a break of up to three weeks might actually benefit you. Many gung-ho lifters spend their lives \u201coverreaching\u201d \u2014 pushing their bodies to the brink every workout \u2014 and have forgotten what\u00a0full recovery\u00a0feels like.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the case for you, embrace the time off as an opportunity to heal, grow, and recover more completely. You might be surprised by how good your body feels \u2014 and how well you perform \u2014 after some dedicated R\u2019n\u2019R.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, you can\u2019t work out \u2014 on account of illness, work stress, gym closure, or life upheaval. It happens. As you get your life back on track, you may start to worry about your waning fitness. How long does it take to lose the muscle mass you built in the weeks, months, or years you\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,66],"class_list":["post-3312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-fitness-tips"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3312"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3314,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3312\/revisions\/3314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}