If you stop working out- how soon do you lose muscle?

[MaryJane27]

I have not worked out since september 9th, so approximately 2 months. In this 2 month time, I've lost pounds. I was about 142lbs and 22% fat.
Lately I've been 137. Lord Knows what my bf % is.

My question- In only 2 months time, could I have lost so much muscle? I mean the scale says I'm less, but I know I'm not. My body feels flabby...

My question, also, what should I do to jump start the weight loss? I know Monday I plan to start eating clean, watching the carbs and start cardio and weights again..

any suggestions?

[barenaked]

wow. 30 views and no one has an answer. Well, I don't have one either, but from what I understand, muscle loss (or atrophy if you like) is generally caused by a poor diet (lack of protein) coupled with inactivity (sedentary lifestyle). I don't know how long it would take to lose 5lb of muscle, but 2 months seems a bit soon. When you get back into the game, make sure you are eating enough protein.

[ChocoChick]

There's no definitive answer to this as it depends on a number of thing such as how long you were working out before your layoff, what your diet was and has been like, how your body responds, etc. Unfortunately, it is easier to lose 3-5 pounds of muscle than it is to put it on, especially if you combine inactivity with bad diet.

You ask what you can do to jumpstart the weight loss but I think you would be better off to start putting on some mass -- so get your diet in order and hit the weights!

[BBjunkie]

Muscle needs stimuli and protien. How fast you put it on or lose it is individualized. If you want to jump start the weight loss, go back to weights and a good balanced diet with plenty of good protien.

[Defiant1]

It depends on a couple of things:

The faster your metabolism, the faster you lose muscle.

The greater your size OVER your natural size, the faster you lose muscle.

The longer you have maintained your size, the more slowly you lose muscle.

The lower your activity level, the faster you lose muscle.

A high protein intake seems to have a muscle sparing effect (lets you hold onto the muscle longer).

The good news is:

It takes hardly any effort to MAINTAIN muscle.

And anything you lose comes back quickly.

[Megin]

8-10 days of complete sedentary gives you a loss of endurance.

I do not believe that muscle loss is that fast, but strength is different from muscle. Strength would go b/f muscle I would think
But I guess that depends on your diet as well (as previously posted)

[starrhh]

i stopped working out last year for sometime and ate lots of protein and when i started lifting again i didnt lose my strength i was at where i left it just lost a little definition i think diet is 90% of course your not gonna grow if u dont workout u can definitely keep most of it with proper diet. thats just me i dunno if it works for u though.

[Siki88]

I know this is 11 years old topic, but i wanna share my own experience for those who might google for it and read this (regardless muscle loss)
I stopped working out almost 2 months ago, but ive been keeping track of my muscle size meanwhile.
Before i stopped working out, i had 66.5kg (146.6pounds), around 18% body fat, 37cm (a little less than 15 inch) biceps (15 inch pumped), and around 82cm waist measurement (+ - 32 inches).
Now after almost 2 months of not working out, eating same i think (didn't changed my diet) , a bit of cycling now and then, and a LOT of PC gaming (inactivity) i lost weight (now im 63kg - 138.8 pounds) , lost biceps size (34.6cm - little less than 14 inches - lost whole inch), but i also lowered my body fat (prolly during the cycling that i was doing), and now i have at least 2 pack visible (waist measurement is 80cm - 31.5 inches).

so yeah, muscle loss is a real thing when u dont work out, and it my case it was pretty fast, but i know it would be MUCH less if i at least did body weight exercises like push ups, pull ups dips etc once or twice a week - its not a lot of work, but it prevents muscle loss.

Guys if anyone is planing to stop being active in the gym or w/e , but want to keep muscle, my advice is:
"train twice a week, it wont kill you, but it will help you maintain the muscle/reduce the loss to minimum, and dont change your diet that u had while you where hitting the weights "

[lherman]

I have not worked out since september 9th, so approximately 2 months. In this 2 month time, I've lost pounds. I was about 142lbs and 22% fat.
Lately I've been 137. Lord Knows what my bf % is.

My question- In only 2 months time, could I have lost so much muscle? I mean the scale says I'm less, but I know I'm not. My body feels flabby...

I'm sure it's different for everyone but I know for myself if I stop lifting for just a week I will loose some strength.

My question, also, what should I do to jump start the weight loss? I know Monday I plan to start eating clean, watching the carbs and start cardio and weights again..

any suggestions?

I know it is different for everyone. For me if I don't lift for just one week I loose some strength and have to use less weights until I get back to where I was. It's much easier to loose muscle than to maintain or gain muscle.

[roxie411]

wow. 30 views and no one has an answer. Well, I don't have one either, but from what I understand, muscle loss (or atrophy if you like) is generally caused by a poor diet (lack of protein) coupled with inactivity (sedentary lifestyle). I don't know how long it would take to lose 5lb of muscle, but 2 months seems a bit soon. When you get back into the game, make sure you are eating enough protein.

That's how it usually works . Typically people only answer when is time to make jokes or humiliate others ( see on misc ) . Nobody takes the time to leave a decent comment anymore , it requires too much thinking ... Now , going back to our main subject , I stopped working out for about 2 months and lost about 10pounds . It also depends how much or what you eat. I assume that if you eat right , you don't lose as much weight /muscle right away . But typically 1-2 months does quiet a damage . I wasn't able to use over 80 pounds on the leg press anymore . Only 35 on each side . So you lose quiet a strength . The good news is , that you can gain eveythng back . Depending on how much effort you put into it and how consistent you are . It took me about 2 months to get back to where I was . Just don't give up. It will go by before u know it . My advice is , don't constantly weight yourself. The more obsessed u are with it the more stressed u gonna get . Have fun and take it as a hobby . 😅👍🏻