The human body is one of the most complex yet interesting systems in this world. It’s made up of over 650 muscles that all take part in who you are. And thanks to these muscles, you can do a variety of great things that can range from sports all the way to battling diseases. And all of these feats can be relatively achieved with great ease. All you need to do is provide your body and muscles with enough fuel, training, hydration, and rest. But what if you’re an Ectomorph? We all know how skinny they can get, does that mean that Ectomorphs lose muscle easily?
In general, losing muscle mass depends on several factors such as long-term inactivity, diet, stress, and age. But compared to the other body types, Ectomorphs tend to lose muscle mass at a slower rate.
In this article, I’ll talk more in-depth about the several factors that can cause muscle loss as well as some ways that you can implement in order to avoid it, or lower its risk.
Table of Contents
What Can Cause Muscle Loss?
The are several factors that can contribute to muscle loss, especially as Ectomorphs, some of which are within your control while others are inevitable.
Long-term Inactivity
As I mentioned earlier, the human body is such a complex and intelligent system. It’s able to adapt to any sort of situation. To put this into perspective, if you pretty much don’t do any sort of activity during your day, then you’ll barely move your muscles. How will your intelligent body respond? It’s gonna think that you won’t be needing those extra useless muscles that consume energy without doing anything. So it’s gonna adapt to the situation and get rid of any “undesirable” muscles that you have. Simply put, be sure that you’re going to lose muscles if you’re inactive. One of the most fun ways to avoid inactivity is to start practicing a sport. And as an Ectomorph, you have plenty of options. Learn more in my article about what sport do Ectomorphs play.
Aging
This should be pretty obvious, we all wish to keep our physical appearance and strength till our last days, but aging is an inevitable aspect of our life. Take full advantage of your young days (Between 20 to 30) because that’s where the muscle mass is at its peak due to the consistent production of muscle-building hormones. After your 30s, the production of these hormones begins to slow down which results in weaker and smaller muscles. Multiple studies have shown that, after the age of 30, muscle mass starts decreasing at a rate of approximately 3 to 5% every 10 years. And for Ectomorphs, this muscle loss rate is slightly lower.
Diet
This is the most important factor to consider especially as Ectomorphs. Your eating habits play a major role in terms of muscle gain or loss. A long-term low-calorie intake will significantly decrease your muscle mass. And as I keep mentioning in pretty much all my articles, Ectomorphs NEED to have a calorie surplus in order to gain weight. So it’s natural that doing the opposite of that will only increase your muscle loss. If you’re not gonna give your body enough energy to fuel those muscles that constantly require calories, where do you expect it to come up with this energy? Its only solution is to decrease muscle size in order to conserve it for other more important things.
Learn more about gaining weight in my Ectomorph weight gain guide.
Too Much Rest From Exercising
Exercising and maintaining a good workout routine is one of the most important factors when it comes to avoiding muscle loss. As soon as you take the initiative of starting your training journey, you need to stick with it. Taking breaks occasionally is actually beneficial for Ectomorphs as it helps them to recover faster, but too many breaks will only make you lazier and develop bad habits.
How much time it takes for your body to lose muscle mass depends entirely on every person. But on average, people that take a 3 to 4 weeks break start noticing muscle loss. Although, in some cases, it can take only about 1 week, so be careful not to take too many breaks. If you feel demotivated to train, then try your best to maintain at least 1 training session per week, as it helps significantly in keeping those muscles intact. But for Ectomorphs, I highly recommend training 3 times per week for maximum efficiency.
Learn more in my Ectomorph workout plan and Ectomorph home workout guide.
Too Much Stress
Nowadays, stress is slowly becoming part of our daily life. Whether it’s at work, while studying, or even in the comfort of our own homes. You may think that stress can only harm your mind but it can significantly affect your physical performance and increase your muscle loss. When you’re constantly stressed, you become less happy in your life. This can result in you losing your appetite, not getting enough sleep, and increasing your heart rate and blood pressure. All these factors can lead to an increased rate of muscle loss. Although it’s a challenging thing to do, avoiding stress can be very rewarding for both your mind and your body.
What To Take From This Article
While it’s inevitable for Ectomorphs to lose muscle mass over time, there are several factors that can help in slowing this process and making it less affecting. And this process can have a lot of consequences for your body such as reduced strength, increased risk of serious diseases, increased risk of injuries, decreased longevity, and a reduced quality of life in general. Keeping a regular training schedule can help significantly in terms of decreasing muscle loss, as well as a good healthy diet, reducing stress levels, and practicing a sport to avoid inactivity.