MUSCLE ATROPHY: USE IT OR LOSE IT - Part 1

“If you don’t use it, you lose it,” but it is rarely discussed what exactly “it” is.

With our bodies being so complex it is important to have an understanding of what occurs when getting in shape and when we start down the deconditioning path.

WHAT IS MUSCLE ATROPHY?

Muscle atrophy is a term used to describe the loss of muscle. Atrophy may occur from injury, starvation, disease, bed rest, nerve damage, and other health-related issues. Atrophy is especially common in older adults, which is called sarcopenia.

To understand how our bodies could be affected by experiencing muscle atrophy we need to think of how we rely on our muscles. The muscular system provides strength, endurance in movement, stabilization, and protection.

Muscles are able to contract and relax, moving or stabilizing the joints they cross. If atrophy has occurred then the motion that would normally happen at the joint would be compromised.

This would mean less strength and endurance during the movement, along with potentially less stabilization around the joints crossed. Atrophy can leave our bodies at a higher risk of injury due to lack of neural control of muscles that would normally be responsible for stabilizing and coordinating movement.

DO YOU LOSE SIZE OR STRENGTH?

When muscle atrophy occurs, do we lose just muscle size or do we lose strength as well? To answer this we need to know what occurs in the body when size and strength are gained.

Hypertrophy is the growth of skeletal muscle fibers in response to overcoming force from high volumes of tension. It occurs when muscle cells regenerate from progressive resistance training programs. Hypertrophy can also be described as an increase in the cross-sectional area of the muscle.

This result is from an increase in the size and number of myofibrils per muscle cell, as well as an increase in structurally-related muscle tissue, such as ligaments and tendons along with an increase in stored nutrients and enzymes in the muscle fibers to break down and resynthesize ATP. The muscles also store more ATP and CP.

This process helps in activities that involve strength, power and speed. With this increase in muscle mass other soft tissue will be more tolerable to higher amounts of stress without damage. Muscle atrophy would reverse these hypertrophy benefits. This muscle loss would result in loss in strength, stabilization of skeletal structure, and durability of resisting forces from opposing tension.

Hypertrophy can occur without major increases in strength, but there has also been shown a correlation of increases in strength as well as in the cross-sectional area of muscle. NASM notes, that Strength is the ability of the neuromuscular system to produce internal tension in order to overcome an external load. The ability to gain strength can occur without dramatically increasing size.

Gaining strength but not size directly relates to changes in the nervous system. This increase is from the coordination of muscles during weight training exercise -- an increase in synchronization, recruitment, and firing of motor units.

There are variables that come into play to determine if you are going to gain size or maximal strength. By lifting heavy loads, keeping lower repetitions (1-5), having longer rest periods (3-5 min.), and nourishing your body without having a caloric surplus you’ll have the ability to improve strength with little to no gain in size.

If muscle atrophy occurs for individuals that have trained more for strength over size, they will still suffer from the same losses that one would from training for size. There would be a loss of strength, loss of neuromuscular coordination, a loss of endurance, and an increase in injury risk. Muscle atrophy isn’t just about losing size, it will also be a loss in strength.

Look out for the Part 2!!

By Hariharan. V

DYOFITXⓇ Instructor

DYOFITXⓇdoes not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.

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