Getting weaker a sign your body is trying to help you. Fight it.

What? For many people, that just does not sound right at all. Your body should be constantly trying to better itself, prepare for the next challenge and accumulate life skills to make you an invincible being.

Sorry, your “body” does not read self-help books and attend Anthony Robbins seminars. In reality, your body is constantly shedding things it does not need. This is a self-defense mechanism that you can thank your hairier, less erect ancestors for bestowing upon you.

On the good side, this can be extra fat when you eat less and exercise more. Your cave dwelling relatives did not have Sam’s Club and meat freezers a million years ago, so their bodies would use fat stores to keep themselves going in times of not so plenty.

However, this can be a negative (for today’s alpha male/female) process, too. Consider the following:

1. Losing muscle. If you are not using it, voluntarily or involuntarily, it is a drain on your body. Why would your body keep muscle it does need? It burns more calories, makes you heavier and is completely useless absent regular movement. Hello atrophy.
2. Specific sports and fitness skills. Have you ever gone a couple of years without skiing and then try to hop back on that double diamond? I am sure the people in the ski lift enjoyed the show, but you were probably not so happy with the results. You lost the skills and muscle memory because your body no longer needed them. It focused its resources somewhere else. It comes back fast, but it goes away fast as well.
3. Joint stability. See both of the above items for a continuation of the basic premise. Joints that are not stressed lose their stability since the connective tissues start to atrophy. This leads to an increased risk of injury even though your body is actually being more efficient. However, if you are the one telling it you don’t need the support, you really can’t blame it.

So, you now know your body has a finicky, efficiency expert in charge. You must make sure that when that expert asks you, “Do you still need this?” that you can claim, and demonstrate, that you do.