What happens to your body when you stop lifting weights?

Your muscles are designed to be worked. Here's what happens when you stop using them.


Anyone who has already been stuck by a glossfit enthusiast in a bar has probably heard about the benefits of weight lifting. But the significant benefits ofWeight and strength training are not something to make fun of.

The weight lifting causes the body to do what it was supposed to do: work, saysMichael R. Deschenes, PhD, FACSM, Professor of Kinesiology and Health Sciences and the Presidency of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at William & Mary College, and a companion with theAmerican College of Sports Medicine. "The weight training reinforces not only your muscles, but also your skeletal system," says Deschenes. The stress he puts on your muscles creates microtrears, which then heal and help that your muscles become bigger and stronger, "he explains.

OrdinaryStrength training It is important to keep your muscles engaged and active, especially for people who lead relatively sedentary lifestyles (like most modern Americans). But sometimes, life asks us to put the weights and take a break, whether because of the injury, surgery or go on vacation. In this case ... What happens to your body when you stop lifting weights for a prolonged period? Do all your harsh earning gains disappear? We asked the pros to break it for us. And for simple ways to start working your muscles more every day, do not missThe secret turn to adapt with your toothbrush.

1

You start losing strength and muscle mass

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The first thing to change, Deschenes says, is your strength. "The force falls almost immediately," he says - in a single week. This is true for men and women, but the research he has worked has found that women lose up to 29% of their strength, compared to 16% for men.

After three weeks without weight workout, Deschenes says you start losing muscle mass. Indeed, it takes longer for the body to build muscle proteins, and it takes more time to start losing these muscles. And for more major workouts to try, learn whyThese 5 minute exercises will make you sleep like a teenager.

2

You can lose bone density

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For a few weeks without strength training also affects your bone density, says Deschenes. It's because your bones (like your muscles)ripe in response to weight in order to be better able to transport charges. But without the regular stimulus of bodybuilding or bodybuilding, your bones will also become less dense. It's a huge problem you get older because after 30 years, people naturally start to lose bone mass. In case of unprepared disappearance, the low bone density can put you on aIncreased risk of osteoporosis and fractures.

3

Your metabolism can change

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A change in muscle mass (say, from the lifting weight stop) can also affect your metabolism-aka thechemical process in your body which convert energy to energy to keep you alive. "The muscles are some of the most active tissues of the body", explains Deschenes. Lifting weight and other activities that build muscle mass can increase your metabolic rate because your cells require a lot of energy (as oxygen and food) to perform. But when you lose muscle mass, Deschenes says that you do not use as much oxygen or calories, which slows down your metabolism.

Changes in metabolism are not intrinsically good or bad. However, if your metabolism slows due to reduced activity, but you always eat the same amount you've done when you lift weights, you can gain weight as fat, addsAhmed Helmy, ®.

4

You can increase your risk of diabetes

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Your body needs glucose (alias sugar) to work and muscles play a surprising role in the process. "Muscle mass is the largest stored glucose deposit [in the body]," says Deschenes. The liver has a few, he says, but it's a much smaller quantity. If you lose significant amounts of muscle mass, your body becomes more dependent on what is stored in the liver, which it says can cause blood glucose control problems and more extreme cases,Type 2 diabetes. Fortunately, build muscle mass (that you can do with, you guessed it, workout by weight!) ISassociated with a reduced risk of diabetes.

5

Good news: Most of these problems are reversible

Fitness girl doing dumbbells plank row exercise lifting dumbbell weights. Woman doing floor workout renegade row or commando alternating plank row at gym.

You might think that all of this means that you must constantly lift weights or risk tons of negative side effects. But Deschenes emphasizes that not only does it take a lot of time to experience these changes, but you can also pick up most of the soil you have lost by taking a weight training. This is because our bodies have a muscle "memory" that facilitates the construction of existing muscles, he says. (The exact mechanism of how it works is not quite clear, but current research suggests that unused, atrophiedMuscle cells narrow rather than die completely.)

"Do not be afraid to put these weights for a week," he says, that's due to a holiday, a bad mental health or a recovery of surgery. "You could take two or three weeks of leave and go well." In addition, once you hit the muscle mass you are looking for, you do not need to raise every day to keep it. "You can maintain your strength and muscle mass as little as a session a week," he says. So, if you have to put your dumbbells for a spell, do not worry: your muscles will be ready to pick up where you left it. And for more life changing exercise tips, see here for theSecret exercise tips to reduce your weight for good.


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