Energy balance
Muscle disuse leads to a decline in basal muscle protein synthesis and, in the early stages (<5 days), a transient increase in muscle protein breakdown, resulting in net muscle loss.
Understand that muscle loss starts immediately upon disuse. The body stops building muscle (synthesis drops) and may break it down faster for the first few days. This is why rapid intervention with nutrition (protein) and eventual retraining is critical to minimize permanent loss.
It has been established that prolonged disuse (>10 days) leads to a decline in basal and postprandial rates of muscle protein synthesis, without an apparent change in muscle protein breakdown. It also seems, however, that an early and transient (1–5 days) increase in basal muscle protein breakdown may also contribute to disuse atrophy.
Why this rating
Based on extensive review of stable isotope and tracer studies in human volunteers (Tables 1-3), showing consistent declines in MPS and early spikes in breakdown markers.
Source
Nutritional strategies to attenuate muscle disuse atrophy
Benjamin T. Wall et al. · Nutrition Reviews · 2013
DOI 10.1111/nure.12019
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