# How Long Does It Take To Lose Muscle Mass?



## michael_johns6 (Nov 11, 2003)

I am just woundering how long it would take to start loseing muscle mass if u stoped working out. For example, if I got injured in a way and didnt go to the gym for a week but still ate good foods and alot of food would i lose any musclse mass??????

Thanks


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## Mudge (Nov 11, 2003)

I lose some after a week but not much noticeable, its beyond a week that it starts to get bad.


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## vanity (Nov 11, 2003)

to make it simple.

let's say you workout consistently for 3 months and then you stop . In 3 months of not lifting you will lose all the gains you had made.

Alot of people quit because of lack of motivation, general laziness or injuries.

The only way to stay in shape is to train for the rest of your life.


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## BabsieGirl (Nov 11, 2003)




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## prophet (Nov 11, 2003)

actually i took about 2 years off and i didn't lose that much in size.. my strength is far beyond what it was 2+ years ago yet my size has not increased that much since i started workin out again 3+ months ago


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## KataMaStEr (Nov 11, 2003)

It???s all depend on the person. I have a few friend that when they stop working out you can???t really tell what they have lost. With me is a whole different story. If I stop working out I lose my gains FAST. But as soon as I start working out again I gain all back and more so quick it???s hard to believe. What I also notice is that I make gains quicker than those who are lets say naturally swole.


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## HoldDaMayo (Nov 11, 2003)

I heard if you take a week off, you lose 3 weeks of progress....
    

(jk for anyone that missed that thread...)


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## Mudge (Nov 11, 2003)

I lost so much beef in 6 weeks that I almost looked like I didn't lift at all, to me I sure didn't. It took me MONTHS to come back.

If you are a Greek god I'm sure this does not apply.


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## vanity (Nov 11, 2003)

by Zeus!


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## Cangri (Nov 11, 2003)

I have read (Muscle-fitness magazine, European summer edition) that you could take a pause from exercise for about 4 weeks (for example an vacation) and still lose no muscle-mass or strength that you had made in the last period. 
This is only the case if you continue to eat healthy and consume enouch calories during the pause.


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## Tha Don (Nov 12, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by HoldDaMayo *_
> I heard if you take a week off, you lose 3 weeks of progress....
> 
> 
> (jk for anyone that missed that thread...)



wot u sayin punk?


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## Yanick (Nov 12, 2003)

Provided your in a caloric surplus you can maintain LBM for months.


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## Mudge (Nov 12, 2003)

Yeah right, tell that to my gut while I still lost LBM. If you do not provide a strenuous workout you tell your body that you have no need for that muscle.


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## Tha Don (Nov 12, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by Mudge *_
> Yeah right, tell that to my gut while I still lost LBM. If you do not provide a strenuous workout you tell your body that you have no need for that muscle.




damm straight bro!


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## HoldDaMayo (Nov 13, 2003)

well, mudge, you can't just sit on the sofa watching soap operas, I think the key is to do exercise, just lighter at home type exercise... some pushups, situps, side bridges, pull ups, if you can... i think incorporating some of these exercises along with eating well, you can maintain a your LBM for longer than if you were in a full body cast or something... the magazine was talking about vacations... so on a vacation you could still get a work out, just maybe not at a gym...


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## SJ69 (Nov 13, 2003)

If I take 7-10 days off, I usually come back and actually perform BETTER.  My max bench is about 280 after a week off.  When I train normally (3-4d/wk)  I can barely get 270.  So I think a week layoff 2 or 3 times a year is benificial, especially if you use forced reps, drop sets, tri-sets etc.
I hurt my shoulder and took 6 weeks off and my max bench dropped all the way down to 215, almost 25% in just 6 weeks, man that was depressing.


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## Mudge (Nov 13, 2003)

> _*Originally posted by HoldDaMayo *_
> well, mudge, you can't just sit on the sofa watching soap operas



I had no choice in my layoff.


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## HoldDaMayo (Nov 13, 2003)

yeah, i should have inserted some smilies there, I figured it would had to have been something harsh to keep you away from the iron....


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## Mudge (Nov 13, 2003)

In some ways I have never gotten everything back and that was many months ago, I had 18.5" arms at that time and am 18 1/8" now. I decided to diet down not long after that so I at least got rid of alot of useless weight.


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## Derek Vinyard (Nov 13, 2003)

If I take two weeks off I will see a shift from lean body mass to fat and loose a significant amount of strength.  It doesn't take my body long at all, it's like swimming upstream in a fast flowing river.


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## buffed (Nov 13, 2003)

If you are all natural i believe it will take quite some time before you can spot the muscle loss.


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## Mudge (Nov 13, 2003)

Maybe. I was able to stay in the 17"s without doing hardly anything, but I never broke out of the 17"s on my own either.


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## IRONWARRIOR (Nov 22, 2003)

If you stopped working out and still ate alot of food you would get fat! and lose muscle, myself I stopped for 1 year and went from 220lbs down to 175lbs in 1 year of not working out my body still looked like I was in good shape I just did'nt eat as much, I could see my abs lightly and i still had 16 inch arms down from 18.5 inchs, I'am now back to 202lbs and my muscle maturity has improved alot from before.


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## sentricyphen (Nov 22, 2003)

it all depends on the muscle density.


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## jonny6546 (Apr 26, 2007)

*What!!???*

First of all, there isnt any time frame on muscle loss.  everyones metabolism is different, and everyones eating habits are different.  if youve gained a substantial amount of mass in 3 months buy hitting the weights and cant make it to the gym for some time for various reasons... thats okay..  as long as you keep a good amount of protein and other nutrients in your body, then you wont lose much mass at all.  Your body wont necessaryily burn muscle unless its deprived of the nutrients it needs for energy.  If you dont eat for a month then yes, you will lose mass.  Although, you should keep working out regularly to keep a healthy standpoint, it doesnt mean your body will automatically flush itself if youre not in the gym...  you may gain a little fat etc.. and you may not be as cut up as you were before.  But thats easily fixed.  The guy below "vanity" has no clue what hes talking about.  You are what you eat... Just get back into the gym as soon as you can


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## DOMS (Apr 26, 2007)

That was close!  Another few years (beyond the 3 and a half years that's already passed) and it may have been too late to answer the original posters question and prepare him for his time off!

Good God, what is it about first-time posters and long dead threads?


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## mdflows (Apr 27, 2007)

I would think that it also depends how much protein that you keep in your diet during your offtime as well.... just guessing.  I know when you are cutting your exercises are much different and are not designed for muscle gain but to keep as much as possible while cutting.  This involves eating aprox 1g of protien for each lb similar idea right?...


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## DiGiTaL (Apr 27, 2007)

now imagine working out for 9 months then stopped for 3 months...


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## Double D (Apr 28, 2007)

I'd really like to get P's take on this.


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## Adamjs (Apr 28, 2007)

DOMS said:


> Good God, what is it about first-time posters and long dead threads?



There's nothing wrong with a bit of history...it's like a ten year reunion type of thing. We can all go back and pretend that we're now successful and not the complete tools we were back in the day..


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