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How quickly we build and lose muscle, and what that means for Christmas
Stressed about taking time off and not sure what impact that will have on your training?
As ever, we encourage Christmas to be spent as what it is - a beautiful pause in the year.
Time to rest, reconnect, soften the pace, and reset your nervous system…
But does “rest” have to mean “stop completely”?
Understanding how your body builds and loses muscle can help take out the guess work and allow for more educated decisions! In other words, you can find your own balance over the holidays: Guilt-free time off, yet returning in January feeling strong, confident, and ready - instead of like you’re starting again.
Here is what the science actually tells us...
How long it takes to build muscle
Muscle growth is a slow, steady process.
Even with consistent strength training, noticeable changes usually take 8 to 12 weeks.
This is because your body is adapting on multiple levels:
• You become stronger - The nervous system becomes more efficient at activating muscles and hormones and metabolic pathways shift to support strength.
• Your muscles grow - Muscle fibres repair and grow thicker after each session.
We tell our clients that if you are consistently training with a program focused on building muscle, women can expect 200g-400g muscle mass increase a month, 1-2kg a month for men.
Men generally build muscle slightly faster due to higher testosterone levels.
What the scales don’t show is that women often see improvements in strength just as quickly as men because their nervous systems adapt the same. So your muscle gain or loss doesn’t always equate to how strong you are.
The key message:
It takes time and consistency for muscle to grow.
Which brings us to the next important truth...
How quickly we lose muscle
Muscle loss, also known as detraining, happens faster than you might expect.
After around 2 to 3 weeks without resistance training, the body begins to break down muscle tissue because it isn’t being used.
Research shows you can lose 0.5 to 1 percent of muscle mass per week during periods of complete inactivity.
Strength decreases even faster, because the nervous system loses efficiency before the muscle fibres shrink.
So yes, if you took all of December off, you would feel it in January.
But here’s the good news…
The amount of training you need to maintain muscle
Surprisingly, you don’t need that much training for maintenance.
Multiple studies show that one strength-training session per week is enough to maintain your current muscle mass.
Not to build or improve...
Just to hold onto everything you’ve already worked so hard to achieve.
So if you’re travelling, busy with family, or stepping away from routine:
One session a week keeps your strength alive.
That is all your body needs to maintain the muscle signal.
More good news: Consistency means the breaks matter less
One of the greatest truths in training is this:
The longer you have been strength training, the longer your body protects your muscle - even during breaks.
Your body loves homeostasis, meaning it tries to maintain whatever is “normal” for you.
When you’ve been training consistently for months or years, your muscles, nervous system, and hormones all adapt to support that lifestyle.
Your body begins to say:
“Strength is part of who we are now. We need this.”
Because of this, experienced lifters lose muscle more slowly during periods of reduced training compared to beginners.
Here’s the science:
• Long-term training creates more satellite cells around muscle fibres, making it easier to maintain and rebuild muscle.
• The nervous system becomes highly efficient at activating muscles, so strength returns quickly even after short pauses. This is what you may refer to as muscle memory.
So when movement becomes part of who you are, your body works with you, not against you.
A healthy christmas: rest, connection, and movement
At ATTIKA, we want you to rest over Christmas.
We want you to sleep more, eat well, laugh with family, switch off, slow down.
Rest is not the enemy.
Yet disappearing and completely sitting still isn't doing great for your results.
To keep the balance:
• Do one strength session per week - PT, Group PT, or a personalised at-home session (drop-in sessions or online are always available)
• On lighter days, go for long walks to support your metabolism and mood.
• Use the ATTIKA warmup on days when you haven’t moved much - even 10 minutes re-awakens your nervous system, hips, spine, mind and breath.
• If you’re away, your coach can give you simple bodyweight options so the signal stays alive.
These small actions mean that when January arrives, you won’t be starting from zero and you retain what you worked so hard to build.
So Christmas does not have to be a threat to your progress
Christmas is an opportunity to restore, as long as you keep one foot in movement.
One weekly session maintains your strength.
Long walks and short mobility warmups keep your body awake.
Rest and connection restore your mind.
Consistency makes strength part of who you are.
That is the balance we believe in at ATTIKA.
And your January self will thank you for it.
Stressed about taking time off and not sure what impact that will have on your training?
As ever, we encourage Christmas to be spent as what it is - a beautiful pause in the year.
Time to rest, reconnect, soften the pace, and reset your nervous system…
But does “rest” have to mean “stop completely”?
Understanding how your body builds and loses muscle can help take out the guess work and allow for more educated decisions! In other words, you can find your own balance over the holidays: Guilt-free time off, yet returning in January feeling strong, confident, and ready - instead of like you’re starting again.
Here is what the science actually tells us...
How long it takes to build muscle
Muscle growth is a slow, steady process.
Even with consistent strength training, noticeable changes usually take 8 to 12 weeks.
This is because your body is adapting on multiple levels:
• You become stronger - The nervous system becomes more efficient at activating muscles and hormones and metabolic pathways shift to support strength.
• Your muscles grow - Muscle fibres repair and grow thicker after each session.
We tell our clients that if you are consistently training with a program focused on building muscle, women can expect 200g-400g muscle mass increase a month, 1-2kg a month for men.
Men generally build muscle slightly faster due to higher testosterone levels.
What the scales don’t show is that women often see improvements in strength just as quickly as men because their nervous systems adapt the same. So your muscle gain or loss doesn’t always equate to how strong you are.
The key message:
It takes time and consistency for muscle to grow.
Which brings us to the next important truth...
How quickly we lose muscle
Muscle loss, also known as detraining, happens faster than you might expect.
After around 2 to 3 weeks without resistance training, the body begins to break down muscle tissue because it isn’t being used.
Research shows you can lose 0.5 to 1 percent of muscle mass per week during periods of complete inactivity.
Strength decreases even faster, because the nervous system loses efficiency before the muscle fibres shrink.
So yes, if you took all of December off, you would feel it in January.
But here’s the good news…
The amount of training you need to maintain muscle
Surprisingly, you don’t need that much training for maintenance.
Multiple studies show that one strength-training session per week is enough to maintain your current muscle mass.
Not to build or improve...
Just to hold onto everything you’ve already worked so hard to achieve.
So if you’re travelling, busy with family, or stepping away from routine:
One session a week keeps your strength alive.
That is all your body needs to maintain the muscle signal.
More good news: Consistency means the breaks matter less
One of the greatest truths in training is this:
The longer you have been strength training, the longer your body protects your muscle - even during breaks.
Your body loves homeostasis, meaning it tries to maintain whatever is “normal” for you.
When you’ve been training consistently for months or years, your muscles, nervous system, and hormones all adapt to support that lifestyle.
Your body begins to say:
“Strength is part of who we are now. We need this.”
Because of this, experienced lifters lose muscle more slowly during periods of reduced training compared to beginners.
Here’s the science:
• Long-term training creates more satellite cells around muscle fibres, making it easier to maintain and rebuild muscle.
• The nervous system becomes highly efficient at activating muscles, so strength returns quickly even after short pauses. This is what you may refer to as muscle memory.
So when movement becomes part of who you are, your body works with you, not against you.
A healthy christmas: rest, connection, and movement
At ATTIKA, we want you to rest over Christmas.
We want you to sleep more, eat well, laugh with family, switch off, slow down.
Rest is not the enemy.
Yet disappearing and completely sitting still isn't doing great for your results.
To keep the balance:
• Do one strength session per week - PT, Group PT, or a personalised at-home session (drop-in sessions or online are always available)
• On lighter days, go for long walks to support your metabolism and mood.
• Use the ATTIKA warmup on days when you haven’t moved much - even 10 minutes re-awakens your nervous system, hips, spine, mind and breath.
• If you’re away, your coach can give you simple bodyweight options so the signal stays alive.
These small actions mean that when January arrives, you won’t be starting from zero and you retain what you worked so hard to build.
So Christmas does not have to be a threat to your progress
Christmas is an opportunity to restore, as long as you keep one foot in movement.
One weekly session maintains your strength.
Long walks and short mobility warmups keep your body awake.
Rest and connection restore your mind.
Consistency makes strength part of who you are.
That is the balance we believe in at ATTIKA.
And your January self will thank you for it.
