How Fast Do You Lose Muscle When You Stop Working Out? (& Ways To Avoid It)

What happens when you stop lifting? In this video I break down the science behind training breaks, muscle loss and muscle memory.

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SOURCES:

Scientific References:

Muscle Protein Synthesis:

Muscle Loss with Bed Rest:

Muscle Loss with Detraining (2 weeks off):

Muscle Loss with Detraining (2 months off):

Reduced Training Volume:

Diet:

Age:

Muscle Memory:

MUSIC
Epidemic Sound
Blue Wednesday - Tick Tock:

Filmed and edited by me and Rashaun R using Final Cut Pro X and Sony A7R3

Rashaun's YouTube:

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Detraining is defined as when you stop training and lose gains. Research shows that we tend to lose muscle very quickly with complete bed rest - mostly due to suppressed muscle protein synthesis. Doing any kind of physical activity, though, will maintain muscle much better than doing nothing. There are three main factors that will determine how quickly you lose muscle mass: physical activity level (bed rest vs everyday activities vs minimal bodyweight workouts vs weight training), caloric intake, and protein intake. Research shows us that you can prevent muscle loss through training (even minimal bodyweight workouts) and diet (eating at maintenance calories and consuming sufficient protein, 1.6-2.2 g/kg). Older individuals (over 60 years old) may require slightly higher training volume to maintain muscle mass than younger individuals, but the same general recommendations still apply. Finally, even if you lose size, muscle memory will rebuild lost mass quickly.

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About me: I'm a Canadian natural pro bodybuilder and internationally-qualified powerlifter with a BSc in biochemistry/chemistry and a passion for science. I've been training for 12 years drug-free. I'm 5'5 and fluctuate between 160 lbs (lean) and 180 lbs (bulked).

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Disclaimers: Jeff Nippard is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before starting any exercise program. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Jeff Nippard will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this video including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or death.

[SeanyMac]

I've never gone through so many emotions watching a video: fear, relief, intrigue, admiration, encouraged. Yo, Jeff, your work is incredible, man. Thank you so much.

[michaeldavies]

I had 3 years off training after my divorce, then recovered 80% of my size back in 6 months when I started training again at 40 I stopped at 37, muscle memory hangs around a lot longer than we might think ❤️ thanks for the video

[unfazedo]

Muscle memory is such a beautiful thing.

[daleedward]

The person who edits your videos... is legitimately talented. And they've obviously been spending more time and effort on editing your recent videos. Seriously great work.

[anthonyfox]

Life long weight training, six months bed rest after an accident with multiple fractures and only lost 8 kg of muscle weight. Restarted training and after 3 months I was back to my original size and weight at 57 years old. Muscle memory is real and amazing.

[DrSwole]

Great video 👌🏼. People often just give up when they can’t train like they usually do and don’t realize that maintaining muscle is actually relatively easy

[DL-wwll]

Everyone is gonna come back to the gym 100 times more motivated then they were before corona

[jasonlinden]

The Crohn’s example is an extreme example. Not only is there limited physical activity, but the body is also unable to absorb nutrients like protein. The client shown in the video was essentially going through sudden and extreme starvation during his Crohn’s flare up. Combine that with being bedridden due to the extreme weakness and fatigue that is usually present, the weight loss can be unbelievably fast. You can see in the photo that his body even began consuming essential fat stores as evidenced by his temporal wasting (fat reduction in the temples).
I went through essentially the same thing, dropping from 180lbs to 131lbs in about 8 weeks. I tried to stay as active as possible as long as possible but since nothing I was eating was being absorbed, the weight just came off. Fatigue eventually became so severe I became bedridden and eventually hospitalized. After getting treatment I was pretty demoralized. I was 5’10” and 131lbs, unable to even do a kneeling push-up. I thought it would take years to get back what I lost. However, it only took about 6 weeks to get my weight back up to 180, while my absolute strength took about a month longer.

So for those worried about losing your mass and strength during this, you might lose some, but take it easy when resuming, it will come back much faster than you expect.

[aariioo]

I was really depressed recently cause I thought all those days and nights walking 5km in cold freezing weather to the gym and back are now mean nothing, but now I feel quite motivated and look forward to going back to the gym. Thank you brother

[hbomb]

1:30 *Sweats nervously lying in bed for the 9th day in a row*

[jacobacevedo]

I have a fully equipped home gym so idk why I’m watching this I just love Jeff this much

[LongLiveCoffee]

I wonder if anyone feels like me: i've been hiting the gym for 3 yeara almost without taking a break and not missing a single workout. Since quarentine started, i haven't done anything and i don't feel like doing anything either. A complete loss of motivation.

[noahhendrickson]

I have Crohn's disease myself and it was awesome to see someone discuss this topic in regards to those with chronic diseases alike; I personally have had 3 flare ups in my lifting experience (5 years/ 15-20), being hospitalized for weeks at a time and then subsequent at-home recovery away from the gym, and although it can be a debilitating experience to have to constantly start from the bottom, it's very encouraging to build yourself back up and then look at the struggle you went through to get there, and then further surpass yourself when it's taken so long just to reach the heights you once touched.

P.S. If you read this Jeff, I just wanted to let you know you helped start me in the path I'm going in life as you were one of the first free easily-understood scientific information sources I came across when I started lifting; I'm studying a bachelors in Exercise Science, on track towards Physical Therapy, & etc., but I just wanted to let you know the positive impact you've had on me as I'm sure it feels good to have people give you such feedback. The way you've steered your career is an inspiration and has influenced the thoughts I've had about the direction of my own career path.

[jeremiahtorres]

I didn’t lift for a week and I felt guilty throughout the whole week and thought I was getting significantly smaller but this made me feel a lot better lmao thanks

[rosinaslavova]

You have no idea how much comfort this video gives me! I’ve been training 6 day per week 2+ hours a day for more than two years - no miss despite holidays, illness etc. I’ve been petrified since the gym closed that all my hard work will go down the drain. I bought an elliptical and use weights up to 30kg and bands with various resistance up to 60kg. Still petrified I won’t keep my muscle.
This has helped so much to put my mind at ease! Eternally grateful!

[suppositionstudios]

I love how casually you throw in your skits.

[brianly]

I am loving the continuity of these videos, it’s like Jeff’s Cinimatic Universe 😂

[reformedtrick]

During my 1 year break from Covid, I maintained 90% of my strength upon my fist visit back to the gym. I only did low weight high rep training at home about once per week

[amazingjackJF]

I trained every day for over a year, stopped training for 3 years and when I came back in to training I put on 20 lbs in 3 months, returning gains are real and so is muscle memory

[JoshBortolotti]

When my gym opens I'm going to line up in front of the doors like it's a new iPhone release.