That's Fit

The more time you spend in a gym, the more ridiculous things you hear people say. I'm not sure where they get their information, but let it be known that it's not from this website.

Just two days ago, I overheard some dude talking to some other dude. We'll call them Dude #1 and Dude #2, mainly because my creativity pool is a bit shallow at the moment. Anyway, Dude #1 was telling Dude #2 that he just started getting back into the gym after a fairly long hiatus (author's note: he didn't use the word hiatus. If my memory serves me, he said that he was just being F-ing lazy for a few months. But I digress ...). Dude #2 then told him that he also took a "hiatus" a few months back, and that all his muscle turned to fat. Dude #1 could relate, so at least it seemed. He, too, claimed that his hard earned muscle had also turned to fat during his ... ahem, hiatus.

So, what's the problem here? It's a common one, actually; the misconception that muscle, if untrained for an extended period of time, can and will turn to fat. This is simply not true. Muscle is muscle and fat is fat. They are two completely different kinds of tissue. Suggesting that one can turn into the other is akin to saying that a helicopter, if not flown regularly, can turn into a boat. That was a lousy analogy, I know. Nevertheless, the point can still be taken. When people stop working out and gain fat, it's because they're burning fewer calories. Inactivity slows metabolic rate, and unexercised muscles will eventually shrink. Does this mean that muscle turns into fat? Obviously not. It simply means that when you stop working out, you typically lose muscle mass and increase body fat.

The good news for Dude #1 and Dude #2 is that there is something called "muscle memory," a physical response that occurs when a person begins lifting weights after a prolonged layoff. The body seems to "remember" this type of exertion, and it is much easier to return to its previous levels of size and strength than it was to get there originally.