"Worried About Muscle Loss If You Rest 1-2 Days After Exercise? Proper Strength Training Methods [Kok! Health]"

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As summer approaches, more people are visiting fitness centers to build a great body. However, to prevent injuries caused by incorrect exercise habits, it is essential to know the exercise methods that suit your body. We explored useful exercise knowledge with the help of Yeom Seung-cheol, director of Gwangju Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital.

Q. Among exercisers, there is a rumor that aerobic exercises like running or jump rope cause muscle loss. Is this true?

It is half true and half false. When we move our bodies or exercise, energy is used through metabolism in the order of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. In other words, for muscle loss to occur from aerobic exercise, which consumes fat through respiration, proteins must be consumed after fats. Unless you exercise at high intensity for a long time like a marathon runner, the likelihood of protein consumption is significantly low. Ultimately, even if aerobic and anaerobic exercises are combined at a typical intensity, significant muscle loss does not occur.

Q. To build muscle, is it necessary not to rest from exercise?

To grow muscles, you need to repeatedly exercise the targeted muscle group at a certain intensity or higher to cause damage to the muscle fibers. Muscle fibers undergo a process called supercompensation. Supercompensation refers to the process of recovering to a state bigger and stronger than before, and the recovery time usually takes 24 to 48 hours.

The higher the intensity of exercise, the longer the rest period required. Without sufficient rest, damage deepens, and the recovery period and risk of injury increase. Excessive exercise can lead to various musculoskeletal disorders such as rotator cuff tears, cruciate ligament tears, and plantar fasciitis.

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Director Yeom Seung-cheol said, “One or two days of rest after exercise is not a time of muscle loss but a time of muscle growth. For healthy muscle development, an appropriate plan such as a split program that targets different muscle groups daily is necessary.” He added, “If musculoskeletal disorders occur due to excessive exercise and treatment is needed, choosing Korean medicine treatments such as acupuncture with herbal extracts, Chuna manual therapy, and herbal prescriptions?which have advantages in pain relief and functional recovery?can be a good option along with precise diagnosis.”

Q. Which is more effective: ‘high weight low repetition’ or ‘low weight high repetition’?

There are many opinions on strength training methods, but none are wrong. If you want to increase muscle size or improve your one-repetition maximum weight, high weight low repetition training, which uses explosive strength in a short time, is effective. On the other hand, if you want to build muscular endurance or repeatedly stimulate a specific area for rehabilitation or strengthening, low weight high repetition training, which maintains strength slowly over a longer period, is recommended.

Q. Between aerobic and anaerobic exercise, which is more effective for dieting?

Aerobic exercise can reduce body fat, but to maintain diet effects without side effects like yo-yo dieting, anaerobic exercise must be combined. Increasing basal metabolic rate through anaerobic exercise makes your body less prone to gaining weight, enabling efficient dieting. Also, combining strength training helps reduce sagging skin as you lose weight, allowing you to create a firm and healthy body shape.

Yeom Seung-cheol, Director of Gwangju Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital