I stopped strength training and cardio for four months early this year due to onset of asthma (job induced, exercise made it worse). Holy shit...I can tell you that my body wasted NO time in reverting to type. I lost muscle quickly after the first two months of reduced exercise. What a mistake. I was able to regain muscle, but it took another six months to recover to the point I was at late last December (asthma started last October, perhaps catalyzed by a very heavy workload and a lot of time spent in a gym that just installed new carpeting and eye watering adhesives - the downside of solvent exposure in the lab).

Careful eating did little to hold back muscle mass deterioration once the last vestiges of former training had worn off. Despite use of muscle-sparing supps, body comp shifted exactly as one might expect it to...

With insulin sensitivity genetically predispositioned and stress layered on, it's easy for me to put on mass, but not the kind I want to add. The nice thing about having that extra insulin is that adding muscle, when the proper triggers are in place, isn't so difficult - I fact I learned the hard way with a recent spate of heavy squats and dead lifting.

Maintaining muscle mass in the absence of strength training is nearly impossible, despite dietary controls. So I've seen your theory in practice first hand, Eric.