"Muscles shrink faster"… 6 reasons why you shouldn't stop exercising

I've been exercising for over five months these days;;;;

Unfortunately, my muscles have decreased even more and my body fat has increased...

Although it's not a perfect 100-point diet, my protein intake is quite low, so I make sure to get enough protein and diligently take my supplements.

Protein and minerals are still in a deficient state;;;

At first, my body fat decreased very slightly, but then it went back up;;;

 

Because my weight has slightly decreased and I've also lost muscle mass

Maybe it's because I haven't been eating enough, so I tried eating a bit more diligently, but my weight is going up and my muscles aren't increasing;;;;

What is happening to my body?

Meanwhile, reading an article like this...

Oh no.. I wonder if exercising has any meaning, it's so frustrating;;

 

 

I know exercise is good, but it's not easy to keep it up consistently. There are many reasons to skip exercise, such as gatherings with friends, drinking appointments, company dinners, and travel. However, if you suddenly stop exercising after maintaining a regular routine, a phenomenon called 'detraining' occurs. This refers to the process where the benefits gained from training decrease as you stop training.

 

Detraining decreases metabolism, leads to weight gain, and causes increases in blood pressure and blood sugar levels, resulting in negative outcomes. In particular, if you stop exercising suddenly, muscle atrophy accelerates even more. If you have become somewhat lazy and full of excuses about the exercise plans you made at the beginning of the year, it's time to restart the exercise you had stopped. Here are six reasons why you should not stop exercising.

 

◆ Weight gain and slowed metabolism

The reason weight increases when you stop exercising is because your metabolism decreases. The particularly surprising fact is that this phenomenon occurs within just one week after stopping exercise. According to a study conducted on college swimmers, it was found that the amount of fat increased by 12% in a short period after they stopped exercising.

 

Muscle loss accelerates more quickly

If strength training is stopped, physical strength lasts longer than endurance, but muscle contraction occurs immediately. According to related studies, muscle mass decreases within two weeks of stopping strength training. When exercise is resumed, muscles can be rebuilt, but it takes much longer than the period of inactivity.

 

◆ Blood pressure rises rapidly

According to related research, blood pressure levels increase even after just one day of stopping exercise. This shows how much harm sitting still and not being active for just one day can do to the body. In particular, if you do not exercise for about a month and mainly sit, blood flow within the blood vessels slows down, arteries become stiff, and veins revert to a state of no activity.

 

However, research shows that if you restart exercise, blood pressure can return to healthy levels within a week. Exercising daily can lower blood pressure and increase vascular flexibility.

 

◆ The brain becomes weaker

Regular exercise affects not only the body but also mood and the brain. A study conducted on mice showed that mice that lived sedentarily for a week had a reduction in new brain cell production. In this experiment, the sedentary mice scored much worse on the maze test compared to the mice that exercised regularly.

 

There are also research findings that regular exercise can reduce depression. Additionally, elderly people who exercise regularly have been shown to have an enlarged hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory, leading to improved memory.

 

Blood sugar rises

Maintaining a lazy habit raises blood sugar levels, increasing the risk of diabetes and heart disease. According to related studies, sitting in an inactive lifestyle causes a rapid increase in blood sugar levels after meals. Exercise helps muscles and body tissues absorb sugars and convert them into energy, thereby lowering the elevated blood sugar after meals.

 

◆ Maximal oxygen intake decreases

There is a reason why you become short of breath after climbing stairs just a few weeks after stopping exercise. It is because your maximum oxygen intake decreases when you do not exercise. Maximum oxygen intake refers to the maximum amount of oxygen a person uses during exercise.

 

A decrease in oxygen intake is due to a reduction in mitochondria involved in cellular respiration within muscle cells. According to related studies, mitochondria begin to decrease within two weeks of stopping exercise. It takes about six weeks of resuming endurance exercise to restore the original number of mitochondria.