Will I lose muscle in two weeks?

[slgalberth]

I won't be able to workout for two weeks will I lose much muscle in that amount of time?

[darkangel]

Probably not, but I think it's a pretty individual thing. The good news is with muscle memory, you'll quickly regain anything you do lose.

[SeaSiren]

Gosh I hope not! I'm on a 3 week recovery then have to go back slowly. The key for me is eating properly in the intrum to help cut back on any muscle loss or fat gain.

[el_eddie]

my personal trainer said that 3 weeks of hard work can be lost in a week. muscles are very calorifically expensive - unless you use them all the time, your body burns them off. sorry to have to tell ya but it's the truth.

[Titania]

my personal trainer said that 3 weeks of hard work can be lost in a week. muscles are very calorifically expensive - unless you use them all the time, your body burns them off. sorry to have to tell ya but it's the truth.

You will not lose three weeks worth of gains if you don't train for a week. Every now and then it is actually good for recovery to take up to a week off.


slgalberth,
If you have been working out for a while then even three weeks is not going to make much of an impact, if any, to your gains. Make sure you keep up a good nutrition plan and you will be fine.

[test account]

I won't be able to workout for two weeks will I lose much muscle in that amount of time?

No it doesn't work that way in my experience. I amazed at how many people think if they stop working out for a week their muscles will shrival up. I only work out once a week myself at the best of times and maintain quite a decent amount of muscle (for a steroid free nearly 40 year old) on that routine (albeit more fat than I'd like too). I was stronger when I did twice a week but once a week which I have been doing for around 8 years now hasn't caused my muscles to shrink.

Because I have been studying last five years there have been numerous times where I just have not being able to make it to the gym for a fortnight and some times even three weeks and I have not lost any muscle during any of it.

I only start to fret if I have to take more than three weeks off between workouts. Occasionaly I have taken a three week break and come back substantially stronger than I left. Usually though I notice a slight drop in performance after a three week break but it is not in peak strength or my inital sets but in endurance in my final sets (i.e. total volumn is slightly down).
But after one or two weeks back from a three week break I recover all my previous strength. Looks wise I don't notice any muscle loss after a three week break. I last worked out previous Tuesday but before that I had a three week break. I was suprised to find not the slightest drop in performance in that time (e.g. for bench did 225lb for sets of 8,8,6,6,6,6,5,5 same as I usually do - usualy after a 3 week break the last two sets of 5 at the end will drop to a 4,4 or even a 4,3 - by the way a decade ago I was doing 8*315lb I'm more experienced than those numbers may indicate - been working out 20 years).

About two years ago I was so busy I had a three months break from the gym but I did not experience any size loss in that time. I did not experience any peak strength loss either though my volumn was cut to maybe three quarters.

Bottom line is I think it highly unlikely you will loose any muscle to speak of after a three week break and any you do loose you will gain back again within three weeks back.

As for that posters coment about "metabolically expensive muscle" you don't look to me like your body is over spending on muscle protein to the point your body is going to want to reign it in as soon as it gets a chance (you've got a good size by the way, not too small not too big). The body tends to like stasis in both directions (is reluctant to loose or gain weight both muscle and fat).

Some people are even more extreme than me by the way and only work out a body part once a fortnight. Mike Mentzor (who had a decent phsique) use to preach that you should only work out as often as you have a haircut. He claimed he and his more advanced clients got great results from this. I'm not promoting Mike here and I disgree that it is a good idea to work out less often than once a week (once every nine days at the most). I've tried it and it doesn't work usually. I doubt Mike got his competiton physique from working out once a month in the days he was competing (and I suspect his so called advanced clients were more advanced in age than muscle size) never the less it is an indication that you probably can do OK at maintaining moderate muscle mass even at extremes like once a three week workout (though I really can't picture someone ever making a Ronni or Jay like physique and doing it on a once a 3 week workout).

Anyway bottom line is your fears are unfounded (unless you are going to be starving or something) - though good you asked so we could reassure you. If you have been over training you may even come back better than you left. You also may loose a tad in performance but nothing you won't rapdily regain in a week or two. Size wise you should not see any change at all.

Where once a fortnight or once a three week workouts will hinder you is if they become a habit like it has for me (rather than a one off occurance). I haven't lost any strength in recent times on that infrequncy but it does stop me making gains (in a couple of months when my studies are over I intend to get back into more regular training and recapture my 315lb pressing routine).

[Titania]

Great post, test account and interesting nickname!!

[Jamie M]

I just had to take off for over 2 months because of my knee. My upper body just lost some muscle definition, but not much mass. My legs look almost exactly the same.

[darkangel]

No it doesn't work that way in my experience. I amazed at how many people think if they stop working out for a week their muscles will shrival up.

You said it. Everyone is different. For me, as an ectomorph, I can lose muscle mass very quickly. A meso and even an endo probably wouldn't lose much in a couple of weeks or even a month off. Unfortunately, most of the questions folks ask, "Will this happen if I...? How long will it take me to...? How much/how often should I...?" can be answered by "It depends."

[SC1]

I don't think you should worry about it too much. I've taken up to a week off and actually come back stronger. With two weeks of inactivity, it may take you a workout or two, but you'll be better than ever before you know it!

[IronMaiden1522]

Yup I have taken over a month off for travelling and came back to the gym with hardly any strength loss whatsoever. Was more flabby and lost definition due to eating pretty random things while travelling, but did not appear to lose any muscle mass at all. But if you have an ecto type body it may be more of a concern. like my boyfriend he is pure ecto and a month of no training for him and it is noticible that he gets smaller. but even still if you are I am sure 2 weeks is just fine!!

[test account]

Great post, test account and interesting nickname!!

Thanks Titania. The wierd name is because when BodySpace first came out I wasn't serious about putting up a profile so just typed in "test account" as in this is only a temporary account. It then turned into a serious profile and as you can't change names (as far as I am aware) I am stuck with this silly name unless I set up a new profile. Though setting up a duplicate account apart from probably being against board rules also looses some contiguity.