The issue of whether or not muscle can turn to fat is one of
those topics that has caused more than its fair share of confusion over
the years. I am not sure how the confusion started or where all the
misinformation came from, but my best guess is that it had something to
do with people making incorrect assumptions about their personal
experiences. Interestingly, the science behind this issue is fairly
basic and straightforward, so any confusion you have will hopefully be
cleared up by the end of this article.
The simple truth is muscle does not turn into fat when you stop exercising, so this statement is definitely fiction. Everyone has muscle cells and fat cells, but they are completely different types of cells and it is not possible for one type of cell to turn into the other one. In other words, muscle cells can never turn into fat cells and fat cells cannot change into muscle cells. It is just not physically possible. However, there is a reason why it may appear that muscle turns to fat when you stop exercising, but I will get to that a little later.
First, I want to cover a little basic physiology to help you better understand this issue. For the most part the number of muscle cells in your body will not vary, although in some cases of extreme high volume training, a person can gain some new muscle cells. For all practical purposes, the quantity of your muscle cells does not change, although the properties of each individual cell can change significantly.
When you exercise, especially with challenging weights and high numbers of sets and reps, it provides a stimulus for your muscles to grow and your individual cells become larger. As long as you continue to work your muscles, they should stay at their larger size or possibly continue to grow, depending on the exercise stimulus. Of course, as you age, physiological changes occur, such as decreasing hormone levels, which will eventually cause your muscles to slowly shrink, regardless of your workout routine.
While aging results in decreases in muscle size and function, it is nothing compared to what happens when you stop your workout routine. When your muscles are no longer exposed to an exercise stimulus, the individual muscle cells will start returning to the size they were before you started exercising. The longer you go without the stimulus, in this case lifting weights, the smaller your muscle cells will become. The important thing to note is that your muscle cell changes occur regardless of what your fat cells are doing.
That said, fat cells may be making changes of their own during this time, but these will be due to reasons not directly related to a lack of exercise. Most notably, when people stop exercising, they often do not change their eating habits or they may eat more. If your calorie intake increases or even stays the same when you stop exercising, then you will most likely gain some fat.
When you are not exercising, you are not burning as many calories and your metabolism will probably slow down somewhat as well, so you need to adjust your caloric intake to reflect those changes. If you eat the same way you did while you were exercising, you will probably be consuming more calories than you are burning, which causes your fat cells to increase in size. In these situations, it may appear as though your muscle is turning into fat, but it is actually two completely different physiological changes taking place simultaneously.
If you stop exercising and make an appropriate reduction in your caloric intake, to reflect your new lower level of daily calorie burning, then you will not gain much if any fat. However, you will still lose your prior fitness improvements and muscle gains, which will eventually result in a further decrease in your metabolism and potentially cause fat gain in the future. Of course, exercising should be a priority in your life and hopefully you will never go through a really long period of time without exercising, in which case you will not have to worry about this.
However, I know there are many things that may cause you to have to take a break from exercising, such as an illness, and I do have a little advice for these situations. Any time you can't workout for an extended period of time, you will have some decrease in fitness and most people gain at least a little fat. Beyond that, you can choose whether you want to minimize your fitness decreases or minimize your fat gain.
Naturally it is best if you can minimize both things, but sometimes you may have to focus on one or the other. If you want to decrease fat gain, then you will want to cut some extra calories. Eating less will certainly help prevent fat gain and you could possibly even lose some fat, but the more you cut your calories, the more likely you will be to have greater and faster declines in your fitness level.
Personally, I take the approach of trying to maintain my fitness level and I don't worry quite as much about gaining fat. My reasoning is that newly gained fat is generally easier to lose than fat that has been on your body for many years, at least it is for me. If have found that it takes more time and effort to regain decreases in fitness than it does to lose newly gained fat, so I keep my calorie intake close to normal, to help prevent my body from breaking down my muscle to use as energy, which often happens when dieting.
Of course this is just my personal experience and if you are someone who gains muscle easily or has a lot of trouble losing any type of fat, then you should focus on eating healthy and cutting calories instead. Everyone is a little different when it comes to how their body responds when they stop exercising, so it is important to find out what works best for you.
Just keep in mind that muscle does not turn into fat when you stop exercising and you can lose muscle without gaining a significant amount of fat. Changes in muscle and changes in fat are certainly related, but they are still separate processes that are each affected differently by your exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle choices.
The simple truth is muscle does not turn into fat when you stop exercising, so this statement is definitely fiction. Everyone has muscle cells and fat cells, but they are completely different types of cells and it is not possible for one type of cell to turn into the other one. In other words, muscle cells can never turn into fat cells and fat cells cannot change into muscle cells. It is just not physically possible. However, there is a reason why it may appear that muscle turns to fat when you stop exercising, but I will get to that a little later.
First, I want to cover a little basic physiology to help you better understand this issue. For the most part the number of muscle cells in your body will not vary, although in some cases of extreme high volume training, a person can gain some new muscle cells. For all practical purposes, the quantity of your muscle cells does not change, although the properties of each individual cell can change significantly.
When you exercise, especially with challenging weights and high numbers of sets and reps, it provides a stimulus for your muscles to grow and your individual cells become larger. As long as you continue to work your muscles, they should stay at their larger size or possibly continue to grow, depending on the exercise stimulus. Of course, as you age, physiological changes occur, such as decreasing hormone levels, which will eventually cause your muscles to slowly shrink, regardless of your workout routine.
While aging results in decreases in muscle size and function, it is nothing compared to what happens when you stop your workout routine. When your muscles are no longer exposed to an exercise stimulus, the individual muscle cells will start returning to the size they were before you started exercising. The longer you go without the stimulus, in this case lifting weights, the smaller your muscle cells will become. The important thing to note is that your muscle cell changes occur regardless of what your fat cells are doing.
That said, fat cells may be making changes of their own during this time, but these will be due to reasons not directly related to a lack of exercise. Most notably, when people stop exercising, they often do not change their eating habits or they may eat more. If your calorie intake increases or even stays the same when you stop exercising, then you will most likely gain some fat.
When you are not exercising, you are not burning as many calories and your metabolism will probably slow down somewhat as well, so you need to adjust your caloric intake to reflect those changes. If you eat the same way you did while you were exercising, you will probably be consuming more calories than you are burning, which causes your fat cells to increase in size. In these situations, it may appear as though your muscle is turning into fat, but it is actually two completely different physiological changes taking place simultaneously.
If you stop exercising and make an appropriate reduction in your caloric intake, to reflect your new lower level of daily calorie burning, then you will not gain much if any fat. However, you will still lose your prior fitness improvements and muscle gains, which will eventually result in a further decrease in your metabolism and potentially cause fat gain in the future. Of course, exercising should be a priority in your life and hopefully you will never go through a really long period of time without exercising, in which case you will not have to worry about this.
However, I know there are many things that may cause you to have to take a break from exercising, such as an illness, and I do have a little advice for these situations. Any time you can't workout for an extended period of time, you will have some decrease in fitness and most people gain at least a little fat. Beyond that, you can choose whether you want to minimize your fitness decreases or minimize your fat gain.
Naturally it is best if you can minimize both things, but sometimes you may have to focus on one or the other. If you want to decrease fat gain, then you will want to cut some extra calories. Eating less will certainly help prevent fat gain and you could possibly even lose some fat, but the more you cut your calories, the more likely you will be to have greater and faster declines in your fitness level.
Personally, I take the approach of trying to maintain my fitness level and I don't worry quite as much about gaining fat. My reasoning is that newly gained fat is generally easier to lose than fat that has been on your body for many years, at least it is for me. If have found that it takes more time and effort to regain decreases in fitness than it does to lose newly gained fat, so I keep my calorie intake close to normal, to help prevent my body from breaking down my muscle to use as energy, which often happens when dieting.
Of course this is just my personal experience and if you are someone who gains muscle easily or has a lot of trouble losing any type of fat, then you should focus on eating healthy and cutting calories instead. Everyone is a little different when it comes to how their body responds when they stop exercising, so it is important to find out what works best for you.
Just keep in mind that muscle does not turn into fat when you stop exercising and you can lose muscle without gaining a significant amount of fat. Changes in muscle and changes in fat are certainly related, but they are still separate processes that are each affected differently by your exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle choices.
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