Why does muscle shrink from absence of lifting but fat stays when eating in maintenance?
In: Biology
So our bodies are generally optimized to not starve. This means getting rid of energy-expending things we don’t use, and hanging on to energy if we ever have a surplus.
Muscle is an energy-expending tissue; the more you have, the more it burns, even moreso than just “added weight.” So if you don’t “prove” to your body that you NEED that muscle through exercise, it will “recycle” the extra muscle to conserve energy.
Other animals, like apes, do not lose muscle as easily as us. That’s why gorillas and chimps are so jacked compared to us. But our species evolved to move efficiently over long distances, so our bodies shed excess expensive tissues like muscle very readily.
Fat, on the other hand, STORES energy. So your body doesn’t want to get rid of it – unless it has to. It is saving up that energy for a day you might not be able to otherwise get it.
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