If you are not training your muscles, the body may use them for energy.
The first priority for the body is managing energy expenditure. Muscles burn energy. If you stop training them the body will interpret that as maybe you no longer need them, an in an effort to minimize energy expenditure..it may use them for energy elsewhere...at a time when it might have used fat
The result of that is your metabolism, the rate you burn calories, goes down and so you start to store exess calories as fat.
This is the literal defiition of "muscles turning to fat."
In fact muscles can be scavenged for energy quite easily, and any excess can be stored as fat
If you are eating right, then your body does not need to do that. But if you stop training all together...you may experience muscle wasting and metabolic rate decrease.
If you want to train less in the winter for some reason...here is a solution...select a method of training that is unpredictable and fits your time etc.
This should be something you have NEVER done before. You would take a week off all training to de-acclimate your body to adapting to training.
You should alter the progression on a frequent basis. These should take 10 minutes for warm up, 10-15 minutes max to do, 5-10 minutes flexibility and warm down.
Always warm up first
Always warm down and do flexibility exercises after
Examples...Unstable.
week 1 M-W-F - On one leg. minimal rest 12-15 reps each - 1 set each (standing dumbell curl, standing tricept press, military press, 1 leg squat, bent row, standing chest press (cable or band), floor bridge (core exercise))
variations for weeks 2,3,4 = 2 arm/alternating arm/slower/2 sets/heavier
Month 2 M-W-F - On a stability ball - minimal rest 12-15 reps each - 1 set each (dumbell ---> bench, bent row, seated curl, lying tricept press, seated military press, ball on the wall squats, ball crunches, etc)
variations for weeks 2,3,4 = 2 arm/alternating arm/slower/2 sets/heavier
Additionally you can eat less, and do low cardio...say 20 minutes 3x week or whatever...call this a maintenance phase...a training vacation.
Measure your body fat every 3 weeks to be sure you are not losing muscle or gaining fat...adjust your diet accordingly.
<message edited by danmirage on Sunday, November 20, 2005 2:09 PM>