DOES this sound familiar at all - “I used to be so fit, but when I stopped working out, my muscles all turned to fat.”
Sometimes, when we see the likes of Jason Momoa or Channing Tatum, who are really fit in their respective movies, suddenly displaying less muscly builds on their social media once filming is over, it leaves a pretty big question mark on whether this is true or not.
Is it true that muscle can turn into fat if not enough exercise is done?
Verdict:
FALSE
The truth is, no matter how amazing the human body is, it cannot magically turn one tissue into another.
Muscles don't turn to fat when you stop weight training. They do, however, lose mass.
When you exercise, your body does not create new muscles. Instead, your existing muscles grow larger and
stronger, and the number of capillaries — the networked blood vessels between arterioles and venules — increases.
When you stop working out, if you keep eating the same number of calories as you did when you were active, most of that will turn to fat.
You'll be consuming more than you need.
Biologically, for famine preparedness, fat is cheap to store and extremely useful when food is scarce, so your body will stockpile it if you aren't giving it a reason not to.
It's this reason that most people think muscle turns to fat, but it's just that when people stop working out, they usually don't compensate for the calorie usage change properly and end up putting on fat.
It is also important to keep in mind that if you do not consume enough calories to maintain your metabolism, your body will begin to catabolise (consume for energy) your muscles.
When people starve themselves, they'll lose weight fast at first, mostly from water and your body consuming muscle.
They may appear to be fat but skinny at the same time because the body will consume muscle until it has the minimum required to function before it goes in full force on the fat.
The good news is, the better shape you were in, the less time it will take to get back into shape. Your muscle memory remains for a long time after your muscles have faded.
Consistency is key. While working out and staying fit is important, it is also essential to consult with a medical professional should your body show signs that it is not doing well.
References:
https://www.livestrong.com/article/449059-do-your-muscles-turn-to-fat-when-you-stop-weight-training/
https://www.piedmont.org/living-real-change/does-muscle-turn-to-fat-when-you-skip-workouts
