Regaining Lost Muscle After Illness

I reported earlier about the lean musclemass loss I experienced after battling a serious flu for three weeks, and how demoralizing that was. After all, gaining muscle is a slow often frustrating process, so such a loss felt to me like taking ten giant steps backwards.

In the past I’ve said that once gained, lost muscle size is easier to regain than it was to gain in the first place, and this has again proven to be true. Within three weeks of resuming my normal high-protein, low-carb, low-sugar, low-fat eating regimen, a good portion of the muscle size returned despite weak workouts.

Additionally, regarding the flu-related loss, I had to factor in the ongoing pump that we all acquire from ongoing workouts 4-5 days a week, a pump which “deflated” after a total of 4 weeks of total inactivity. Also I was not supplementing with creatine during this time, and current conventional wisdom claims that creatine allows our muscles to draw in and retain water, thus adding to the look and feel of fullness of the muscle bellies.

So resuming eating properly, resuming a workout routine (weak as it was for the first 2 weeks) despite feeling very lethargic physically after recovery, and resuming the creatine and drinking water intake together brought me back about 70%, I’d estimate. Resuming my normal level of effort in my biceps/triceps workout, for example, pumped me right up to appearing pretty close to what I had been before the flu in a resting state, so I was satisfied that regaining my previous condition would not take long.

I also factor in that, unlike many people I read online, I do not obsess. I do not measure or weigh myself. I judge my progress and condition by my reflection in the mirror. I have a “shit happens, so what?” attitude and always believe I can make up for losses in due time through persistence. Time passes regardless, so I can either make the best of my days and reap the rewards as weeks go by, or I can do nothing and watch as I diminish and decay during the same time period. 

Diminishing isn’t an option for me, as it is as damaging mentally and emotionally as it is physically. Slow and steady wins the race.