Also once one has muscled up, it takes a surprisingly short length of time for the muscles to get right back to where they had been, and resume their fat-burning work.

Some trainers/coaches say that an annual weight-gain cycle of variance amounting to 5-10 lbs. is not unusual or problematic for people who work out-- that athletes can relax about that much offseason gain, because the resumption of seasonal workouts will soon drop it back off to "fighting" weight.

It's when we gain more than that, our bodies cannot quite cope as well.

~Susan