If a bodybuilder were to stop bodybuilding and just maintain a regular healthy lifestyle (but not work out constantly) would their muscle mass evaporate into flab?
I’m assuming it would because a bodybuilder who has huge muscle mass must have skin that has formed to cover the increased muscle mass and if you lose that huge amount of muscle mass wouldn’t the extra skin cause or create flabbiness?
Do bodybuilders have to workout constantly then in order not to get more flabby than the general population because of excess skin?
Muscle doesn’t turn into “flab.”
Bodybuilders who stop training, and who reduce their calorie intake simply get smaller. They only get flabby if they continue to eat as if they were still training.
Skin is very stretchy. Although bodybuilders get stretch marks when they put on a lot of mass in a short amount of time, generally the converse isn’t true - they skin will shrink as the muscle mass disappears.
Hard to find decent photos, but here’s one: http://staticimg.oldcatlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/21100137/Mustafa-Mohammad.jpg
Would a substantial decrease in muscle mass by a bodybuilder affect testorone/hormonal levels in any noticeable way? (assuming they continue to live a healthy lifestyle)
Well, most bodybuilders are taking steroids, which increases their testosterone levels enormously. So, stopping that will result in those levels becoming more normal. Having extra muscle mass helps boost testosterone levels, so I suppose that losing that mass will reduce them, but really, it’s the steroids that make the difference.
Right, but when you’re slamming steroids your body’s natural production of testosterone decreases. So when you stop the steroids your testosterone levels will drop to below normal.
Do they drop to below normal? That is why you have post cycle medications to bring your natural production back.
As for bodybuilders, it depends in part on genetics. Some bodybuilders drop back to looking pretty much normal when they quit taking drugs and stop lifting weights. Others maintain a very large size even without the drugs or lifting regime.
As far as bodybuilders and excess skin, I assume it would be no different than pregnant women or obese people. Their skin expands, then the tissue underneath it goes away. Some get loose skin, some do not. It is a mix of age and genetics.
It makes a big difference if they are natural or depended on steroids to get big. Power lifters are also different from body builders. And as mentioned, there is natural variation.
But to answer your question, the skin issue is relatively minor.
