Hey guys.
I have lately been wondering this. How long would it take to lose all the muscle that you have worked to gain?
I worked out with an intensive arm program for about 4 weeks and then stopped for about a week and all gains were lost.
And it just seems like even if you take a few days off I feel like I have lost alot of gains.
Do keep gained muscle, do you have to work out forever?
Thanks,
David
Well, I’m fairly noob to be able to answer any question, but from my understanding is that every muscle requires some form of maintenance/upkeep. That would explain why people in comas lose a lot of muscle and strength. So in a way, yes?
your body will only keep what it uses, if Ronnie Coleman stops lifting he will turn into your average joe… eventually.
same goes for everyone, you only gain muscle because your body thinks you need it. if you don’t need it, don’t expect it to hang around.
but, its better to have gained and lost, to have never gained b4, lol.
There are a few principles which can be applied to all forms of physical training. One of them is the princeple of disuse. When you stop working out you will loose your gains and your fitness will decrease to a level which is only needed for daily demands.
Unless you starve yourself you won’t loose all the gains.
You will loose some,but not completely.
I still have some of my “swimmer lats” since I was 18,and I only started working out two years ago …and my lats never disappeared.
[quote]hackattack wrote:
if Ronnie Coleman stops lifting he will turn into your average joe… eventually.
[/quote]
If you really believe that you are naive.
Normally 1 week is not enough time to start losing gains. Taking a week off after an intense program can sometimes cause extra gains too.
The real answer was that you really didn’t gain anything. 1 month is not enough time to put on any real amount of muscle.
[quote]fireplug52 wrote:
Normally 1 week is not enough time to start losing gains. Taking a week off after an intense program can sometimes cause extra gains too.
The real answer was that you really didn’t gain anything. 1 month is not enough time to put on any real amount of muscle.[/quote]
Bingo. Although a noob could put on a solid 8+ lbs of lean mass in a month with proper diet, there could also be no real gains at all with inadequate diet. A week off is not enough time to lose gains. And as fireplug said, sometimes it’s exactly what you need to come back bigger and sronger.
I’m taking a week off next week, I expect to have more gains from taking a break after a program. Believe me, you didn’t lose any muscle.
besides arms are not going to gain a whole lot in a month compared to other body parts. Plus how did you eat on your week off.
[quote]scottiscool wrote:
hackattack wrote:
if Ronnie Coleman stops lifting he will turn into your average joe… eventually.
If you really believe that you are naive.[/quote]
Well the guy is asking why hes loosing muscle when hes not using it.
What im trying to say is:
http://digg.com/celebrity/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_Then_and_now
and i have no idea how long it takes to loose muscle, but i don’t really see why you would want to know such things.
Yeah agreed on the second part.
From seeing pictures of real young Ronnie and him carrying around 275+ lbs of lean body mass it seems impossible with his genetics he’d ever be “normal” unless he stopped training, had heart surgery, and was governor of California maybe 
Haha, screw it! Ronnie for USA president, i can see it now:
My fellow Americans:
“CORNBREAD”
“ain’t nothing but a peanut”
“yeah buddy!”
“Lightweight Baby”
Thank you
[quote]hackattack wrote:
scottiscool wrote:
What im trying to say is:
http://digg.com/celebrity/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_Then_and_now
and i have no idea how long it takes to loose muscle, but i don’t really see why you would want to know such things.
[/quote]
you know that pic is before T3 right? in other words, he looked a bit more ‘then’ soon after. Does show you can get pretty shapeless and flabby if you don’t watch out though.
Like the comment by one poster though - “Well what do you expect? He has to blend into American society somehow.”
[quote]Dyepaintball12 wrote:
Hey guys.
I have lately been wondering this. How long would it take to lose all the muscle that you have worked to gain?
I worked out with an intensive arm program for about 4 weeks and then stopped for about a week and all gains were lost.
And it just seems like even if you take a few days off I feel like I have lost alot of gains.
Do keep gained muscle, do you have to work out forever?
Thanks,
David[/quote]
You didnt lose muscle, just some of the water/glycogen i would guess, and the swelling from all that overtraining damage you were probably doing!
I expect you wouldnt have gained much actual muscle in month of arm specialisation.
Anyway, dont worry.
You keep gained muscle a long time but it will dwindle if you dont train or if you eat too little - you dont have to train as hard to keep it as to get it by all accounts but train you should. If you dont enjoy the journey you dont get to stay at the destination!