[xkrn4lyfx]

it's more or less like this: i used to do taekwondo a couple years back, and from the years of taekwondo i did i developed a strong lower body. but that was a couple years ago. do i still have that strong lower body or would my body have broken down the leg muscles, now quite unused, and turned into legs like i never did taekwondo at all?

i'm wondering this because i've started working out and my legs are still stronger than an average person's (imo) and my upper body sux ass, barely average (again imo). that and my friend was talking about him having strong abs because he played football in high school.... which was 4 years ago.

so does past exercise stick with you, or do you gotta do the upkeep to keep the muscles?

[machiavelli_paganini]

muscle atrophies if you dont use it. thats why paralyzed people have such tiny legs

[xkrn4lyfx]

muscle atrophies if you dont use it. thats why paralyzed people have such tiny legs

i didn't become paraplegic or anything, i just don't do taekwondo anymore. during my years of taekwondo i was a very hard kicker but now, after years of not doing taekwondo and only using my legs for everyday tasks, would my legs have degenerated to regular legs, or do they retain at least some of the strength from former glory days?

[kinein]

You've lost it. All you have to ask yourself is - privately - would you or the you in the past win if you got to fight your past self.

Or just walk into a studio and spar against someone at the top of their game tomorrow.

Use it or lose it.

[xkrn4lyfx]

You've lost it. All you have to ask yourself is - privately - would you or the you in the past win if you got to fight your past self.

Or just walk into a studio and spar against someone at the top of their game tomorrow.

Use it or lose it.

hmm. i'd probably win. i've grown taller since then =O

so none of the muscle stays? makes sense i guess. what about flexibility? does that also go away completely with time?

[laris]

you can text flexibility yourself, can you not?

[boka]

^ Agree they're your legs - you're in a better position to judge their strength and flexibility than we are.

In any case, all those years of taekwondo while you were younger could've stimulated some hyperplasia in your leg muscles and you usually don't drop cell count quite as fast as you drop cell volume. So yeah, if that's the case, it could've left you with a slightly higher baseline level of strength than what you might've expected had you not trained.

[suzushii]

Yes you lose some of it. The longer the time, the more you lose.

Why do you think atheles train ALL THE TIME. Otherwise they'd just train until they'd reach their peak, and stop.

You might still be better then an average person, but not as good as you were.


Muscle is a very expensive tissue for a body, and your body acts like an optimising machine. If you don't use something, it stops supplying it with blood, and the tissue stops growing, and then cells start dying off since they're not fed.

This is true in general, the same thing happens to brains to people as they age. That's why it's recommended to stay active with your mind - read, do mental games, as you age. And that's why intellectual people don't go senile as fast as average people.