Final answer:
Yes, ATP is consumed by resting muscle fibers to maintain ion gradients and to prepare the muscle for potential activation, utilizing ATP reserves and regenerating new ATP through metabolic pathways, primarily aerobic respiration.
Step-by-step explanation:
True, ATP is continually consumed by a resting muscle fiber. Even in a state of rest, muscle fibers require ATP for various functions, such as maintaining ion gradients across membranes, which is necessary for muscles to respond to potential contraction signals.
Muscle fibers possess a small reserve of ATP that can be rapidly used up during the initial seconds of contraction. When the stored ATP is depleted, the muscle cell must regenerate ATP to maintain its functions, even at rest. This is achieved through aerobic respiration primarily, and to a lesser extent, by the utilization of creatine phosphate and anaerobic glycolysis.
During periods of inactivity, muscles still consume ATP but at a reduced rate compared to when they are active. This consumption is necessary to sustain basal metabolic functions such as the operation of the calcium pumps in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), which in turn maintains the muscle ready for action.