Two Weeks of Inactivity = Muscle Loss of 40 Years

Two weeks. That’s how long you have to be inactive to cause appreciable muscle loss. How much is loss that? According to researchers at the University of Copenhagen, young men who have one leg immobilized for two weeks lose up to a third of their muscular strength, and older people lose approximately one fourth. Yikes! Futurity reports on the research, and the site quotes Andreas Vigelsø, a PhD student at the U Copenhagen’s Center for Healthy Aging and the biomedical sciences department, saying “A young man who is immobilized for two weeks loses muscular strength in his leg equivalent to aging by 40 or 50 years.” Wait, it gets worse: the more fit you are–meaning the more muscle mass you have, the more you lose, and getting it back is no walk in the park. The researchers found that it takes three times the amount of time you were inactive to regain the muscle mass that you’ve lost, and cycling alone won’t do it: weight training is also needed.