What would happen if you stopped training for a couple of months?
I recently saw a semi-professional bodybuilder stop training for 5 months due to health reasons. And the results were devastating to his physique.
He lost a big chunk of muscle mass and his strength was down about 30%.
But I’m absolutely sure he’s going to get back in shape very quickly.
Why?
Because he’s an experienced lifter who doesn’t have to build his muscle and strength from scratch.
You see, he will use his muscle memory.
Its primary function is to help you learn complex motor skills (such as playing a musical instrument). If you didn’t have muscle memory, you could never do that.
You’d have to think about every movement instead of doing it automatically.
But since we all have muscle memory, it’s possible to play challenging pieces of music by training your hands to perform increasingly complex movements without thinking. That’s how we go from a beginner to expert in almost any field.
And it’s the reason why it’s easy to get back into shape even after you miss a couple of months of training.
Simply put, your nervous system is already adapted to weight lifting.
And even better, the muscle fiber nuclei in your muscle tissue will remain intact.
So when you start working out again, those nuclei will engage in muscle protein synthesis and quickly regrow the muscle mass you’ve lost during the period of inactivity.
Which means you can afford to skip a couple of workouts here and there.
Just make sure it doesn’t turn into a habit.
Regular workouts are crucial for your overall health, not just for building and maintaining muscle.
Stay fit my friend!
Michael
Founder & CEO