If you've spent any time in a gym, you've probably heard of the term "muscle memory." For those who haven't, the words refer to the idea that your muscle fibers retain a certain amount of memory, making them able to recall certain motor skills on their own. With muscle memory, you don't need to recall or even spend time thinking about how to do something. Your muscles automatically know what to do (thanks to your nervous system).
The real question is, how does muscle memory work? Is it actually a real thing that happens when you build new muscle, or just a term used to describe something that's far from what it appears? You'll find the answers to both of those questions and more here.
The Science Behind Muscle Memory
The very term "muscle memory" seems to imply that the body's muscles are in control. Motor learning, things like riding a bike, which you never appear to forget how to do, no matter how long it's been since your last ride, are automatic. It's as though your muscles know what to do, to the point where your brain can take a backseat and allow them to do all of the remembering.
This isn't exactly true. Your brain plays a larger role in muscle memory than you'd think.
What the Studies Show
Ina new study on muscle memory, scientists were able to show that the brain plays a larger role than previously thought. While it may seem as though the muscles do all of the work, the brain still tells the muscles what to do, only it happens very quickly, which is why most people don't notice this happening.
The study included several examples, such as people learning how to play instruments. They struggle the first time they play, trying to remember the hand positioning for certain notes, as well as when to hit those notes in a particular song. When the subjects put down the instruments for a certain period of time, they were able to grasp the song and its notes much more quickly since their muscles remembered the movements.
However, as it turns out, since the brain remembers those notes and their pattern, it is actually telling the muscles how to move. This happens at a rate 20 times the usual speed for these movements because the brain recalls them and doesn't need to spend a lot of time puzzling them over.
As a result, it seems as though the muscles are doing this all on their own when it's really the cerebellum making it all happen.
What Does This Mean for Those Who Believe in Muscle Memory?
Technically, since the muscles are controlled by the brain, this is a type of muscle memory. By prompting the muscles to make movements that they've already done, your body sort of acts on autopilot.
Also, because the muscles have already moved in that manner, they are prepared to make the same movements again, even if the brain has to tell them to do so. When you look at it this way, muscle memory does exist.
The Other Type of Muscle Memory
While remembering how to do something, like performing an ice skating spin after years off the ice, are one type ofmuscle memory, there's another kind altogether. This type of muscle memory is one that bodybuilders refer to when they worry about stepping away from the weights and having their muscles atrophy.
In the past, bodybuilders who got tired of tracking countless reps and sets, keeping to ahealthy diet, and drinking those protein shakes tended to skip their gym sessions. They were prepared to watch their muscle mass waste away to nothing, thinking that the muscles died off when they weren't used in that manner.
This isn't actually true. Although detraining or skipping a hefty daily workout will cause muscle loss, those muscles are still there. Muscles stay alive; they just become less visible. Retraining can bring muscle tissue back and get you back on track to muscle growth.
The Role of Nuclei
Every muscle cell in the body has nuclei in it. These contain how much protein the muscle is able to synthesize. As they grow and muscle strength increases, they synthesize more protein, becoming even larger.
When you first start working out after a period of not doing more than getting off of your couch now and then, you don't see your muscle size pop out and grow right away. That's because this period is marked by the creation of those nuclei and proteins. The muscles start creating them so that they can grow larger. Once you begin to exercise regularly, whether you’re doing strength training, resistance training, or something else, the nuclei and proteins kick in and start to build muscle, called hypertrophy.
A Form of Muscle Memory
What does this have to do withmuscle memory? Even after you stop working out, those nuclei and proteins remain present in your muscles. They remain there, laying in wait (no pun intended) for you to start working out again. Once you do so, your muscles will grow larger faster because the nuclei, or muscle memory, if you want to use another term for them, are still there and were just waiting for you to start exercising.
This is why professional athletes can stop training for months and then return to the arena within a few weeks of the season starting — they use muscle memory. Their muscles remember their previous weightlifting regimen and are able to grow in size fairly quickly.
What Else Do You Need To Know About Muscle Memory?
On top of understanding the two different types of muscle memory, there are a few things that you also need to know, such as:
It's Technically Not Muscle Memory
To be as technical as possible, muscles don't actually have a memory. Those nuclei and proteins hang around, waiting for you to start exercising again, but they don't really consist of memory in the typical sense.
But what about the other type of muscle memory, where you remember certain movements and how to do things? That's all handled by the brain, not the muscles. It's just called muscle memory because the speed with which the knowledge goes from the brain to the muscles happens so fast that it appears to be only coming from the muscles, without any conscious effort on our part. It sounds weird, but it's true.
No One Knows How Long It Lasts
Although the old refrain is that "you never forget how to ride a bike," would you at some point forget?
How long does your brain retain these memories? Is it like remembering how a certain, extremely well-mademeal tastes, even if you haven't had it in a long time? Or will the knowledge eventually fade in the same way that some memories of events from your past have, such as remembering what you had forlunch two days ago?
Since scientists are still working on this, not to mention the fact that the brain is extremely complex, it's hard to say how long "muscle memory" will truly last.
You Can Make Your "Muscles" Remember
Did you know that you can help your brain retain certain muscle movements to help you better learn new skills?
Going back to the music example, by practicing a little, then putting the instrument down for a short period of time, like ten minutes, and then picking it back up and playing the same notes again, you can force parts of the brain into remembering the tune and how to play it. By doing this, you're actually forcing your muscle memory to take hold, helping boost knowledge retention to access it more quickly next time.
Muscle Memory Is Important
Both forms of muscle memory are important as they help the brain and body function more smoothly. When the brain retains knowledge and sends it quickly to the muscles, your body remembers how to make certain movements.
In the case of the other form of muscle memory, by creating those nuclei, your muscles will grow larger and stronger even after months of not working out at all. All of this plays a role in your overall mental and physical health.
The Facts About Muscle Memory
In a way, muscle memory is a real thing, even if it isn't actually the muscles that are remembering how to do something, and it's the brain's doing, instead. Whether you're trying to remember how to roller skate without falling down or re-learning how to sketch a certain object, your brain will kick in and remind your muscles how to move and do. As a result, you won't have to learn absolutely everything from scratch every single time.
Sources:
How Does "Muscle Memory" Work? | Psychology Today
What Is Muscle Memory? | Men's Health
How Muscle Memory May Help Us Get in Shape | The New York Times
Study Proves “Muscle Memory” Integration Exists at a DNA Level | Science Daily
About Author: Mario Mendias
