How Quickly Do You Lose Muscle When You Stop Working Out? (And How to Prevent It!)

For the majority of lifters, it’s likely that at some point you’ve had to take some time away from training - whether it’s due injury, a vacation, or life just getting in the way. But what happens when you don’t workout? And how long can you stop working out for before you start to experience muscle loss? Well, the truth is, if you stop exercising altogether then you’ll experience a dramatic decrease in your muscle size pretty quickly. For example, research shows that taking a week off from lifting can cause an 11% decrease in type II muscle fiber size. And when you’re fully immobilized, you can lose around 1 kg of lean muscle mass in just 10 days! But luckily, this initial decrease in size is mainly due to glycogen and water stores that are being depleted from your muscle due to not working out. So with that being said, how long does it take to lose muscle (actual muscle mass)? Most research shows that you start losing muscle mass after 3 weeks without working out. But the good news is, this can be mitigated with 3 simple, science-based steps. The first thing you want to do is eat at maintenance calories. Research indicates that eating at a deficit causes excessive muscle loss when you’re not training. On the other hand, eating at a calorie surplus not only causes excessive fat gain but ALSO enhances the rate of muscle loss. Thus, sticking to maintenance calories is your best bet. Next, you obviously want to keep your protein intake high throughout this period in order to best maintain your muscle mass and prevent muscle loss from occurring. Lastly, you want to stay active. Activities like brisk walking or doing the chores for example will all help with muscle loss prevention better than if you were simply sedentary. And if you can workout at all, it doesn’t take much to maintain your muscle mass – 1-2 full body workouts per week is likely enough! So implement those three points and you’ll be able to mitigate any muscle loss from occurring during this period.

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[PabloEscobar-gusd]

Who else just missed 1 gym sessions and quickly search for this

[franksanchez]

You work so hard to get muscles but you're body is so quick to get rid of it lol

[DasCube]

Just injured my elbow and I'm taking 2-3 weeks off and this is all the stuff I was concerned about - it's like you read my mind when you made this video! Thanks :)

[ruralsquirrel]

You have such a calm and soothing voice in your videos. We older guys like that a lot. Too many of the fitness bros on YT are yelling and making it hard to listen to.

[FabienWhite]

When I stopped going to the gym for 22 days I also completely fell out of my routine, nearly always missing one major meal in the day and just sleeping all day. I ended up losing 12 kg of body weight and people said I looked "dead". However, one month back and I've regained 7 kg, never underestimate muscle memory!

[Brutal_Wizerd]

Wow the timing! Had to stop working out 2 months ago because of studying for an entrance exam and now that I got in the uni I started working out again yesterday!

[abbaskimsani]

Omg exactly when i start working out after 3 month break you post this
Thank you much love😎

[maph]

Who else is here because of Coronavirus

[jordemort]

Anybody else watching because their gym is either closed due to corona or because they're sick with it

[MaiHaiangBI-]

Our body: Why keeping muscle big and strong....when we can just eat it

[jerz]

Excellent! I just experienced this very thing when my wife and I went to Hong Kong for 2.5 weeks to visit her parents and siblings. Prior to our (awesome) vacation, I was training twice a week. I did no training at all when we were there, but did do a LOT of walking - like 24000 steps average per day.
When we got back on Nov. 4th, I noticed a substantial loss in my weight (4 pounds) and was significantly weaker than I had imagined. By the end of three weeks, I was at 90% of my normal one-rep weight max as well as gained back all the weight. However, even after a month, I am still not 100%.

[misterterrific]

The timing on this is amazing. I’m just starting a four week lay off, because of a surgery. The study results give me some hope!

[TheDracopire]

Kinesiology student here, love this damn channel. No bullshit or ignorance, just pure knowledge and information. Keep doing you man.

[ShoaibKhan-bzqm]

2 months off the gym getting depressing but coming back now - muscle memory FTW

[SoCS]

Freaking out after injury. Really appreciate this video.

[BlackCrossCrusader]

Quality content as usual. I remember when your sub count was only 7000. Congrats dude, I told you that you deserved a higher count then, and YT definitely agrees. :)

[engodsibbe]

Even if you’re away on vacation or what ever the reason might be for you to not be able to lift weights, you only need your body to work out, do push ups, pull ups.

[LulzRoyce]

I've been lifting hardcore for about 9 years now, went from 5'11" 160lbs to 185lbs AND leaned out like crazy during the process. I was training only 3 times per week, basic push/pull routine. And now I train each muscle group like once every two weeks and have not lost strength, size or gotten any fatter lol. Also don't consume as much protein as I used to. Used to be around 180g/day now its about 100g. Seems after a while your body adapts to maintaining itself without needing as much stimuli or protein.

[ImTheBlackJesus]

I love that you posted this right now. I just got to India on an overseas business trip. The gym accommodations aren't the best but it's good to know I likely won't lose all my gains as long as I'm doing something over the next three weeks.

[musicbyluky]

Lmfao i normally go 3 times a week to the gym and i missed 1 fitness day and i instantly looked up for this 😂