Q: For the last three months I stopped working out. Sad, but true. I was just wondering how long I can go on doing this without losing my muscle. Is it true that muscle turns to fat when inactive?

A: Muscle does NOT turn to fat, but if it's not used for a long time (and three months is definitely getting there) muscle will atrophy somewhat. And if you don't watch what you eat you can gain additional fat in that period since some of the fat-burning muscle is lost. These two things together lead to the appearence that muscle turned to fat.

The good news is that it's much easier to rebuild muscle and strength after losing it, then gaining it the first time. This is sometimes referred to as 'muscle memory'. So don't despair, just get back to working out and you'll be back in top shape in no time.