Will a muscle relaxant make me lose muscle mass?

[roobie]

My doctor prescribed Soma for my severe upper back, neck and jaw pain (along with anti-inflammatory medication), and I'm supposed to take it at night at bedtime. Problem is that I'm currently trying to lose weight, so I exercise everyday and lift weights a few days a week. Will this impede my progress?
I don't lift weights two days in a row. I actually have free weights that I lift when I feel like lifting, and I do various other strength training exercises just using body weight. I don't like routine, so I've come up with a method that works for me. My cardio sometimes just consists of walking, though I prefer jogging. It's nothing too strenuous. I've lost about 25 pounds so far and want to lose another 10 pounds.

And I'd love to take time off, but I have pre-diabetes. When I don't exercise, I feel awful.

[UPESKYMO]

No this will not impede your progress, but the only thing I worry about is the fact that you are exercising when you have all of this muscle problem and pain. I would think you would want to give the exercising a rest so that you could heal yourself. I am on Soma right now also. I have muscle spasms in my back and in my neck. I was told to rest it as much as possible and use heat on the effected area. I hope you feel better soon and please don't hurt yourself any further. Good Luck!

[ladypam]

The action of a muscle relaxant is to block the nerve signals from reaching the muscles and making it contract. It is often used when the muscles need rest from too much stress. Theoretically, it may cause a loss in muscle mass especially on the area of muscle pain since this is rarely moved because of the pain and after a long period of time, it may shrink and atrophy because of lack of activity. However, since these areas are always in motion, especially in your case, even with a muscle relaxant, it is in actuality not a problem.

In your case, since your concern is to lose weight, maybe you can go slow on your exercise regimen for a while in order to rest and heal the aching muscles of your neck, jaw, and upper back. This is also to decrease its inflammation. At least you do not have to totally get rid of exercise, which as you said makes you awful if you do.

Hope this helps.

[musclebuildingw]

People always eager to know how to build muscle, but neglect the lies of mass building.
Here are four you should pay attention to.

Mass Building Myth Advice 1 The Safety Of The Smith Machine

The most common piece of misguided training advice that I have ever seen is to use the smith machine because it is safer than barbells or dumbbells. The thought is that using the Smith machine will allow you to safely handle heavy weight since the machine is locked in on two columns. While this is good in theory, it does nothing at all to help save us. The advantages of a barbell or dumbbell is individual characteristics are taken into account.

Muscle Building Myth Advice 2
You must always stay with higher reps to build muscle

Yes, higher reps are better for building muscle since they cause more muscle tissue breakdown All things considered, you should train with higher reps. However there is a big backlash for anyone who advocates the need to go with lower reps. Lower reps do not cause as much damage as higher reps but they still have a place


Muscle Building Myth Advice 3
Always Advocating High Intensity Training

No one ever looks at the drop off rate during muscle building programs. The mind is ready before the body is ready when most people go to train. If you want to get the most out of your training, you go into the gym with the intent to really have a good workout.

Do you ever feel like you fade as your training week goes on? This is due to consistant training at high intensities. It is better to go at an eight for four to five days a week than a ten for two days.


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