When people do regular physical exercise, they often hope to lose weight because they think that fat will be burned while muscle mass grows. But sometimes things are not what they seem. When people work out, their muscles don’t always get bigger; sometimes they get smaller, and sometimes they gain fat at the same time. In this study, we look into the reasons behind the occurrence of muscles shrinking after exercise.
Learning About What Causes Muscle Loss
1. Body Cannot Make a Choice
The idea behind this is that exercise can help you lose weight because it burns fat. Aerobic workouts with a moderate intensity, like walking and swimming, are known to help people lose body fat. Inge Permadhi, a clinical nutrition expert at the Mochtar Riady Comprehensive Cancer Center (MRCCC) Siloam Hospital in South Jakarta, says that the body might not burn fat only when you work out. It’s possible that the body burns protein instead of fat, which makes muscles get smaller. One big reason for this is that the body can’t tell the difference between burning fat and protein.
2. Not getting enough nutrients
What you eat is very important for keeping your muscles from shrinking after you work them out. To build and keep muscles, you need to eat a healthy diet of protein. You must also diet in carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, and extra calories to meet your daily energy needs. If you don’t eat right and do a lot of hard exercise, your muscles could get smaller.
3. Doing too much cardiovascular exercise
Cardiovascular activities are good for you in many ways, but doing too many of them may make your muscles shrink. Cardio workouts that are very hard can make the body break down more muscle tissue. The International Sports Sciences Association says that doing a lot of cardio can make it harder for the body to build muscles, which can sometimes cause muscles to shrink.
Ways to Keep Muscles from Losing Size
It’s important to watch what you eat while you’re working out to keep your muscles from shrinking afterward. Making sure the body gets enough food is important for both the workout and the healing process that follows. Inge Permadhi recommends a balanced method that includes both aerobic and strength training, such as lifting weights.
You could burn fat with aerobic exercise and then do strength training like pulling weights. “This kind of exercise can keep the muscles in good shape,” says Inge.
This all-around method makes sure that you burn the most fat possible while keeping and even growing your muscle mass. On the other hand, you should try to avoid doing too many cardio workouts. You might want to add short cardio workouts to your routine because they can still be good for your heart and lungs without putting your muscles at great risk of shrinking.
That being said
To find a good mix between exercise and nutrition, you need to know how your body and muscles reacts to different types of exercise. People usually think that regular exercise will help them build muscle and lose fat, but the truth can be more complicated. People can lower their risk of unwanted muscle loss after exercise by using a comprehensive approach that includes healthy eating and a variety of exercise routines.