The miraculous thing about the human body is that it’s alive. And when we are alive, we want to stay alive, so we adapt.
When we have a change to our lifestyle, our body undergoes physiological processes to adapt to that change. If you went from off season, into the pre-season for a given sport, you might find yourself eating, sleeping and drinking more as your body requires more fuel to recover. If you moved to the other side of the world, your body might need to adapt to the change in weather.
If the body decides the change requires less energy than it did before, the body holds off on energy-consuming physiological processes and reduces the signal to consume food.
Our muscles require a lot of energy to maintain. If the brain senses, there is no need to have them, you’ll undergo “muscle atrophy” where your muscles decrease in size and strength. Why? Efficiency. Your body wants to be the most efficient it can possibly be. And having big strong muscles that aren’t used – not very efficient.
Watch the below video to hear Bridget, one of our Exercise Physiologists explain this concept in more detail.