When your muscles atrophy, they

• A. Grow larger
• B. Regenerate quickly
• C. Waste away
• D. Increase strength

Answer: (C)

Muscles shrink in size and strength when they aren’t used enough—this is atrophy. When activity drops, the body reduces the contractile proteins in muscle fibers, so the fibers get smaller and overall muscle mass decreases. That’s what wasting away means. Hypertrophy would be the opposite, with muscles growing larger from training. Regenerating quickly isn’t the typical description of what happens during atrophy, and increasing strength usually comes with more use or training, not with wasting. With activity and proper nutrition, some mass can be recovered, but the immediate effect of disuse is a loss of muscle mass.