How to Lose Muscle
Muscle loss from fasting is a common fear among people who are already in great shape.
We know that people become emaciated with severe undernutrition, so we assume fasting will have similar affects.
The research, however, says otherwise.
In his book Eat Stop Eat, Brad Pilon does a good job of highlighting some of the flawed conventional wisdom surrounding fasting.
His review of the research found that as long as you're doing strength training of some sort, you won't lose muscle during 24 hour fasts.
In fact, it's even possible to gain muscle while fasting, contrary to popular belief.
This makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint because it would be counter productive for us to lose muscle whenever we couldn't find food, since we would then have trouble hunting for more.
Other prominent names in the health and fitness field have found that they were STRONGEST when they worked out fasted.
In short, the myths about having to eat every 3 hours to avoid starvation mode or maintain muscle growth are exactly that: myths.
How To Lose Muscle So if fasting doesn't cause muscle loss unless done excessively (leading to undernutrition) then how IS muscle lost? Whether you actually want to know how to lose muscle, or simply how to avoid it, the causes of muscle loss can be found below.
1.
Atrophy This is the most obvious one but it's still worth going over as it's probably the most common way muscle is lost.
When you don't use your muscles for a long period of time, your body decides that they are no longer needed and they begin to atrophy.
If you've ever seen a paraplegic in a wheel chair, you may have noticed that their legs are very thin.
Because muscle is metabolically expensive, if a certain muscle group isn't being used, the body will discontinue to support those muscles.
2.
Overtraining This one is one of the most common mistakes people make when working out.
Quick fact: muscles don't get grow when you work out, they grow when you rest.
Working out actually causes microscopic damage to the muscle fibers and subsequent rest repairs those fibers and makes them stronger.
When you overtrain by working the same muscle before it has had time to adequately recover, you actually break down the muscle further.
3.
Undernutrition Fasting doesn't hamper muscle growth because you can still get the nutrients your body needs during the time you aren't fasting.
Prolonged lack of nutrients, however, will lead to emaciation as can be seen in starving populations.
We know that people become emaciated with severe undernutrition, so we assume fasting will have similar affects.
The research, however, says otherwise.
In his book Eat Stop Eat, Brad Pilon does a good job of highlighting some of the flawed conventional wisdom surrounding fasting.
His review of the research found that as long as you're doing strength training of some sort, you won't lose muscle during 24 hour fasts.
In fact, it's even possible to gain muscle while fasting, contrary to popular belief.
This makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint because it would be counter productive for us to lose muscle whenever we couldn't find food, since we would then have trouble hunting for more.
Other prominent names in the health and fitness field have found that they were STRONGEST when they worked out fasted.
In short, the myths about having to eat every 3 hours to avoid starvation mode or maintain muscle growth are exactly that: myths.
How To Lose Muscle So if fasting doesn't cause muscle loss unless done excessively (leading to undernutrition) then how IS muscle lost? Whether you actually want to know how to lose muscle, or simply how to avoid it, the causes of muscle loss can be found below.
1.
Atrophy This is the most obvious one but it's still worth going over as it's probably the most common way muscle is lost.
When you don't use your muscles for a long period of time, your body decides that they are no longer needed and they begin to atrophy.
If you've ever seen a paraplegic in a wheel chair, you may have noticed that their legs are very thin.
Because muscle is metabolically expensive, if a certain muscle group isn't being used, the body will discontinue to support those muscles.
2.
Overtraining This one is one of the most common mistakes people make when working out.
Quick fact: muscles don't get grow when you work out, they grow when you rest.
Working out actually causes microscopic damage to the muscle fibers and subsequent rest repairs those fibers and makes them stronger.
When you overtrain by working the same muscle before it has had time to adequately recover, you actually break down the muscle further.
3.
Undernutrition Fasting doesn't hamper muscle growth because you can still get the nutrients your body needs during the time you aren't fasting.
Prolonged lack of nutrients, however, will lead to emaciation as can be seen in starving populations.
Source...