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When the mucis dwindle

10.4.2019

Translation: machine translated

Muscle atrophy after a sports injury sucks. You've spent months toiling away in the gym and in a few weeks it's all gone. What is the body thinking?

Your body is a well-functioning machine. If a part is not needed, it reduces the energy there to a minimum. And in no time at all. Emergency power supply, so to speak. My left arm can tell you a thing or two about it. Why does my body do this to me? "Because it's clever," is the occupational therapist's answer. I'm undergoing treatment after breaking my left metacarpal while skiing, with subsequent surgery:

Product test
My sports headphones - the attraction in the operating theatre
by Patrick Bardelli

The muscle atrophy

I had the operation just over a month ago. I haven't been able to train properly since then. And when I look in the mirror today, I get screaming fits. The muscle atrophy is hitting. This is the reduction in the size of a skeletal muscle that is visible to the naked eye. I sit with the occupational therapist and moan my head off. He listens to my moaning about the muscle loss and asks: "Did you know that muscle loss is around six times faster than muscle growth?" No, I didn't know that. Until today.

Lights out in the guest room

And why the hell isn't it the other way round? "Well, it would be nice. And yet it's very clever what your body is doing right now," continues Michael, the occupational therapist. I'm surprised and want to know more. "Why should your body spend energy on a part of the body that is currently only being used to a very limited extent? That would be a waste of resources. That's why the energy supply is reduced to a minimum." Yes, that makes sense. After all, I only turn up the heating in the guest room when there are visitors. Otherwise it's on low. And the light stays off.

You hunter, me office

We have the bodies of hunter-gatherers. The Stone Age is practically in our bones. I imagine our ancestors 100,000 years ago travelling through the pampas. Food is in short supply and has to be either hunted or gathered. Every day anew. A waste of resources? A very bad idea: every calorie needs to be optimally utilised, otherwise you won't last long in the wilderness. Now I understand what my body is thinking. In the Stone Age, this "saving measure" was essential for survival. But today? Evolution is not keeping pace with civilisation.

An average daily routine

Hunter-gatherer daily routine: Hunt, gather, eat, reproduce, sleep and start all over again the next day. Economical use of the body's own resources = very good idea

Hunter-gatherer daily routine 2.0.: Sit on the tram, sit on the train to Zurich, sit on the S-Bahn, sit in the office, don't go to the gym at lunchtime because my hand is broken, sit in the canteen, eat, sit in the office again, sit on the S-Bahn, sit in the office again.sitting on the train, sitting on the train to Basel, sitting on the tram, eating, sitting in front of the TV, too tired to reproduce, sleeping and the next day everything starts all over again. Economical use of the body's own resources = bad idea. Result: thin arm, fat belly.

Conclusion

Why is my body doing this to me and losing muscle? Because it hasn't arrived in 2019 yet. Its resource management was very clever 100,000 years ago and helped it survive in the wild. Today it makes my arm thin and my belly fat. The other way round would be better.

Hello evolution, let's move forward. We're not in the Stone Age anymore.

And the next time on "Patrick breaks something ..."

The time for lamenting is over, enough said. From now on, it's back to training, broken hand or not. After all, pain is just weakness leaving the body. Lead waistcoat on and off to the gym. Follow me here and you'll be up close and personal.

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Patrick Bardelli

Senior Editor

Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.ch

From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.

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When the mucis dwindle

My sports headphones - the attraction in the operating theatre

The muscle atrophy

Lights out in the guest room

You hunter, me office

An average daily routine

Conclusion

And the next time on "Patrick breaks something ..."

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My sports headphones - the attraction in the operating theatre

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