On Mon, 19 Mar 2001 12:20:56 -0800, Wally Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I've known very muscular athletes
>(read gymnasts) and very muscular construction workers
>who work their muscles hard every single day and do
>not seem to suffer from decreases in muscle.

Most construction workers I've ever seen are just overweight.
Gymnasts are special I think; I don't know what they do; but
I know there aren't many 48 year old gymnasts :-).

One study
   http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0002.htm
found 36 hours is needed for recovery.

>In
>light of this, how can placing a lesser load on the
>muscle cause it to decrease, especially if the muscle
>is still being trained (let's say on alternating days)
>by the heavier demands.

Even lower weights can interfere with the rebuilding.

Philip Thrift
http://www.paleofitness.com