eli5 Why/how do muscles shrink?

Question

You get sore muscles when you train, because you muscle strings rip and when they heal, your muscles grow. As far as I know. So why and how do they shrink?

In: 213

Answer 1

Muscle mass uses a LOT of energy for your body to maintain. If you aren’t regularly using it, your body will gradually break that muscle down to save energy. But some remnants of that original bulk remain, so it’s easier to rebuild lost muscle than to gain it in the first place.