How to Build Muscle After Muscle Disease Deterioration

Monitor your diet and exercise to help rebuild your muscles.

Muscle deterioration can be caused by injury, a decrease of physical activity or illness. Individuals who are on bed rest or unable to perform simple physical tasks daily can be diagnosed with muscle deterioration. The disease can also stem from certain conditions that affect the nerves that control the body's muscles. Some of these diseases include polio, Guillain-Barre syndrome and ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Two ways to help rebuild muscle tissue include proper diet and exercise.

Instructions

Diet

1. Increase your intake of protein. Eat more protein to help sustain your current muscle mass and build more muscle. If you are doing weight-lifting exercises to help build your muscles, eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of your total body weight. If you only want to keep your current muscle mass, eat 0.4 grams of protein per pound instead.

2. Drink more milk. Milk contains high amounts of vitamin D and calcium. Increase the amount of milk and other foods high in these nutrients to help support your muscles as they get stronger.

3. Consume iron-rich foods. Iron is stored within the muscle tissue and helps your muscles to grow by giving them oxygen.

4. Eat carbohydrates to fuel your body. The energy that carbohydrates provide is converted into fuel for your muscles during strenuous workouts or activities.

Exercise

1. Engage in cardiovascular exercise. Make sure you partake in moderately intense exercise each week for at least two and a half hours. Aerobic exercise will allow greater amounts of oxygen to get to your muscles. Your heart and breathing rates will increase. This increased flow of oxygen and blood circulation helps your muscles recover from deterioration.

2. Stretch. It is important to thoroughly warm-up and stretch for at least three to five minutes before strengthening your muscles. If you do not take your time when stretching, you risk pulling muscles and worsening your condition.

3. Work every part of your body. You might find it easiest to divide your muscle groups into sections and work a different muscle group each day. Strengthen your back, forearms and biceps one day and focus on your triceps, shoulders and chest the next day.

4. Focus on the areas with the most deterioration. It might seem difficult, but do extra sets of exercises on the muscles that have been greatly affected.

5. Give your muscles a day to rest. Your muscles must have ample time to recover in between strength training in order to rebuild themselves. Your next workout will be more effective because the muscles will have rested and will be ready for more training. Increase the number of sets and repetitions as your muscles grow stronger.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have been diagnosed with a progressive disease that causes muscle deterioration, such as ALS, be sure to consult your physician before starting any exercise program.

References

• National Institutes of Health: Muscle Atrophy
• Harvard Health Publications: Time to Put Some Muscle into It