Losing muscle mass over recovery time..

[AGhostInMyArms]

It's 3:15 am, and I was previously tired until I decided to watch a quick exercise video to get me motivated to go to the gym tomorrow. I figured, hell yeah, maybe I'll work out in my sleep and want to go first thing.

Quick intermission - check out Street Workout Motivation in Ukraine for a great, inspiring calisthenic work out compilation (that's the second video that lead to my sleep deprivation)

I have pretty good muscle mass and have always retained well. Before transitioning I certainly had a female looking chest. But in years of nothing but working out every day I managed to flatten and bulk up the $#!* out of my chest, by age 19 I could freely go shirtless in public. It was literally one of the most amazing feelings I've experienced, hands down. It was deeply personal and rewarding, and I knew that nothing in the world could ever remove the feeling that I had accomplished something I often doubted, always dreamed of and was told was impossible.

My question is: if I'm in good shape, even in really good shape if I work my ass off until my surgery date, how much muscle do you think I'm going to lose with the inactivity over 9 (or more) months? There's also going back for penile implants and such, which shortly after recovery will result in another few months of inactivity.

It just worries me because despite the burden of my birth sex, I really like the way my body is. It has reacted well to the testosterone, I'm in healthy levels, I gain muscle fast and retain it well. To disrupt all the progress I have made, and have worked so hard for, is honestly upsetting to me at my core. But regardless I have to complete my transition for my happiness and life.

At the end of that first video (I think it was) I saw an old guy with white hair, fit, doing some calisthenics. That gave me hope even if I lose a scary amount of muscle and thin out I can bounce back, at least stay in shape.


Thanks and goodnight.


Just wanted to include this as a PS. I remember reading this horoscope after I went out shirtless for the first time. It was in the same week and seemed so appropriate I saved it in a text document. And it really couldn't have been more so, as the whole experience was honestly incomparable to any other feeling in my life. So I want to share. It was from free will astrology, July 11 2013

When the comic book hero Superman first appeared on the scene in 1938, he had the power to jump over tall buildings, but he couldn't fly. By 1941, he was hovering in mid-air, and sometimes moving around while floating. Eventually, he attained the ability to soar long distances, even between stars. Your own destiny may have parallels to Superman's in the coming months, Cancerian. It's possible you will graduate, metaphorically speaking, from taking big leaps to hovering in mid-air.

[Alexthecat]

I've read that if you work out for like a year a few months off won't really hurt you. You will gain it back quick and don't loose that much. It is those people who workout for a few months and then stop that never see any progress, their body just goes back to how it was before they started. That year of training gets your body use to being that way and makes it stay there better.

[AeroZeppelin92]

It really just depends on your body and metabolism on how much you'll lose, but I think you'll just have to accept that you're going to lose some. That being said, I believe if you keep your diet in check (eating enough enough calories for body weight maintenance and plenty of protein)  and eating frequent small meals, the amount of mass you lose won't be as drastic than if you didn't.

[AGhostInMyArms]

Right on. My body does bounce back quickly, lord knows I've abused it well. I will also be eating healthier than I am now (not to say my diet is particularly bad now), more raw and natural foods.

[HeyTrace19]

It is difficult to say with any certainty how much muscle mass any one individual may lose over a length of time. 

I have been a runner/triathlete for 25 years, and have also abused my body in the past by overexercising and restricting food intake.  In my own experience, the impact of abdominal surgery and recovery from it has been pretty harsh.  Although the testosterone has done great things for me, my metabolic processes definitely shifted after removal of the ovaries.  This could be a factor of aging, as well, since I am inching closer to fifty, but my body is NOT the same as it was pre-surgery.  Everything seems to be a bit off kilter.  It was a good 4-5 months before I could resume running after surgery, and at least a year before I felt 'recovered'.  Despite my efforts to get back in the fitness game, I still lack the drive and have difficulty with nagging minor injuries.  While I do have hope that I can get my body back to an acceptable level of fitness, I am by no means 'flabby and unconditioned'.  I am healthy, and fit...but I have had to adjust my expectations. 

Being you are young and very fit going into surgery, I think it is reasonable to expect that you will still be fit and healthy on the flipside...just not in the way you are accustomed to seeing yourself.  Surgery is a major disruption for the human body, but we adapt somehow!