How many "off" days 'til you start losing muscle (in theory)

[T.KELL]

i had a bud ask me this the other day and i told him that with the right diet of a normal amount of protein (so your body doesn't use your muscle as food) that i don't see you "losing" muscle within 4-5 days of being out of the gym, but i'm not sure so i told him i'll ask y'all on here the same question. any inputs fellas?

[getitdone835]

I was told by a body builder that it can vary on muscles but generally 4 days.

[T.KELL]

ok. so out of curiousity, say you work one muscle group every 5 days. does any progress end up being comprimised by the end of your w/o cycle? sry for the ignorance, just curious.

[anonymous]

I feel like it depends on how much lean mass you have, but as long as you're eating right, you shouldn't lose hardly anything for atleast a couple weeks. I mean sure, there'll probably be some but it'd be pretty much negligible. I just had 9 days off lifting for spring break. Granted, I needed a deload period anyways, but I came back and actually was doing a bit MORE weight than I was from the week before I left.

[CookAndrewB]

To lose muscle mass? I would say that you should not see any appreciable loss in size or strength for two weeks, or more, after your last workout. Now, you may look flat due to a loss of "the pump" or water retention, etc... but when you talk about loss of muscle, there is no logic or science behind saying that four days after you stop training you will start shrinking away to nothing.

[Orlando1234977]

To lose muscle mass? I would say that you should not see any appreciable loss in size or strength for two weeks, or more, after your last workout. Now, you may look flat due to a loss of "the pump" or water retention, etc... but when you talk about loss of muscle, there is no logic or science behind saying that four days after you stop training you will start shrinking away to nothing.

Exactly, I'd say 2 weeks at the bare minimum for muscle atrophy to even start its course.. Probably even a little longer.

[sonti]

It can take quite some time. I haven't lifted heavy or even consistently in about 24 weeks and recently my strength has started declining, but not at an outrageous rate. I couldn't tell you about theory, just my experience.