Muscle Turns To Fat Myth
“Bodybuilding is bad, if you stop the muscle turns into fat!”
This has been rattled off so many times that it is “common wisdom”. Think about how ridiculous this statement is! The alchemists of ancient Greece were never successful in turning one material into another and neither are we. There is no biological pathway for muscle to “turn into fat”. Like all myths, this one has a grain of truth. If you stop working out you lose strength and muscle mass, no mystery here. Exercise uses calories, if you stop working out and don’t decrease your food intake then you get fat. Put those two facts together and you see why this myth got started. Making matters worse is that many bodybuilders thrive on the monthly gains and the endorphins produced so when they stop, mild depression can set in. Many people overeat when depressed, making the transition from muscular stud to obesity quite rapidly.
A word about steroids is in order as they are part of the cause of this myth. Steroids allow rapid muscle growth and a user can easily get addicted to the rapid and seemingly constant gains in muscle mass. Because of the very rapid strength gains, and a steroid-induced aggressiveness, steroid users are more likely to get seriously injured in the gym. When a steroid user gets injured, their life can be shattered – depression caused by the steroid withdrawal, depression because they cant work out. They continue to eat just as much (or more because of the depression) but don’t exercise and they rapidly get fat. This is one of the subtle problems with steroids.
If you want to have a fantastic, healthy physique for 40 or 50 years then do natural bodybuilding! It takes longer to get results but they are yours to keep for decades and decades.