Muscle memory

[VNV]

Two months ago, I was 195 and 10% BF. I ran a dunk tank for a living. The business went under, but I still have access to the tank. Since the business failed, I haven't worked out. That's 175.5 lbs of LBM. Now, in just 8 weeks, I'm 185 and 14% body fat: that's 159.1 lbs of LBM.

In two months, I've lost 16.5 lbs of muscle and gained 6.4 lbs of fat. This is mind-blowing. I wasn't on gear at the time and I'm not now.

But I'm trying to figure this out. If I start working out again (been weight lifting for 5 years), will I be able to regain this mass? Christ, it's only been two months! My diet is not that of a body builder at the moment, but awesome compared to normal standards.

What should I do? Start working out again and see how it goes? Run a cycle? I am SO bummed out. I was thi+nking about competing at 176+ before these last two months. Now that possibility seems so far away.

 

[chop]

get back in the gym. it will come back in a few months

 

[Stump]

VNV, just as Chop said, get back in the gym, lift heavy (but safe), eat smart and plenty of rest and at no time you will be back.

 

[617ricky]

It should definitely come back as long as you eat/train properly.. At the beginning of this year, I was 25-30 lbs lighter than I'd been a few yrs ago when I did a cycle.. Body fat was probably very close between the 2 times, so it was all pretty much lean mass..

Anyway at the start of this year I got my act together, started training, and eating a LOT more protein/cals - no gear tho.. And in literally 2 months, I gained almost 20 lbs.. It was crazy how quick I got back to nearly the same size I was, tho I was at a low-point at the beginning of the year.. I thought I was gonna continue to put the pounds on, but once I got back to just about the size I'd been before, the gains slowed down by alot.. Over the past couple months now, I've gotten more defined, but my weight has kind of stabilized..

So what I'm saying is, it seems that it's quite easy for the body to get back to a size it was once at, as long as you're putting the effort in - but once you get there, you gotta work harder if you wanna surpass it.. That's why I'll be throwing some gear in next month.

 

[King-kong]

Get a blood workup. I seemed to always lose mass real fast and could not figure out why - no gear involved. I found that my test and free test levels were extremely low. In my opinion that is why I could never retain unless working out constantly. Even a two month break would make me look like I never lifted. Just a thought.

 

[SisyphusRocks]

Get back in the gym and start off slowly - lifting about 65% of
the weight you were lifting for the first week or 2 and then start
gradually adding weight to get back to where you were strength-wise.
Your appetite probably fell off while you weren't in the gym but will
most likely come back and you can get back to where you were and then
try to pass where you left off. Get some creatine too it will help.
The lay off gave you time to rest your joints and fully recover so you
should be fresh when you come back. Clean up your diet and throw in
some cardio, summer's on it's way.

 

[Pekkerwood]

VNV: It will come back.

You probably have some cascading effects from the failed business. You quit working out, changed your diet some, and I'm guessing, have been dealing with stress and your body unleashing stess hormones.

I had a forced absence for close to a year. Remained same weight but looked terrible, decreased muscle, increased fat. Resumed the process of training, tough at first, but I regained my "look" pretty quickly.

Muscle memory works.