Andy Murray experienced a surprising effect after retiring from tennis, as he lost weight, contrary to popular belief that athletes gain weight after ending their careers.
While most athletes gain weight once they stop competing, some are able to keep the shape they had when they competed. Some even lose weight, which is what happened to Murray.
There was some friendly banter between him and his wife as he promised to stay in shape, but having a good time in retirement prevented him from following up on that.
Murray promised his wife that he wouldn’t stop working out and would be a regular in the gym even after his playing days. The decision obviously made sense, as staying in shape should be a priority for most people.
It's healthy and improves the quality of life, so it's naturally something also the Brit wanted to pursue, living such a life during his whole professional career. For Murray, though, it didn’t quite happen that way because he failed to keep his promise.
He went to the gym for a couple of days after stopping playing but stopped after going back home to Scotland and hasn't been back since.
"I haven't been to the gym for five weeks. I said to my wife, I was like, Look, I'm going to make sure when I stop, I'm going to make sure I stay in good shape. And she said: ‘Oh, if you're just going to go and play golf, I don't want that’. I was : ‘No, no, I'll get myself in the gym, make sure I stay in shape’."
"I went to the gym three of the first four days after I stopped, worked really hard, and then went up to Scotland for a couple of days for a holiday, and haven't been back since. It's been five weeks I've not been in the gym, longest ever for me probably."
The weight loss was very interesting for Murray to observe, but it was not minor. It was a bit surprising to him, but overall, he seems to have understood why it happened. Not playing as much means he requires fewer calories on a daily basis, so his intake went down.
He also doesn’t drink as many sports drinks as he did in the past, only drinking water and coffee. Overall, it just seems like the lower calorie intake with a decent amount of activity did the trick, as most of what he lost is probably muscle mass since he’s not been as active in the gym anymore.
"I don't know if it's like appetite, if I'm not eating as much, but we obviously have like loads of the sport drinks have got lot of calories in them, and I only really drink water and coffee now."
"So I don't know, I think just less calories and probably loss of muscle. I've lost about 11, 12 pounds. It's a lot. I was expecting the opposite to happen."
Time will tell whether he gets back to his former shape, but for now, Murray does not spend as much time in the gym, instead enjoying his life on the golf greens.