Muscle memory
People speak of muscle memory and how once muscle is gained, should you lose it, a lot can be gained back in little time, provided you didn't let this atrophy (or is it something else?) go to far. The reason I question atrophy is because of the claims of muscle memory. There are two forms of muscle hypertrophy I'm aware of, myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic. Myofibrillar is the process of mitosis occurring in muslces where new cells are made through division. This is also knbow as muscle recruitment and goes on predominantly during strength training. Then there is sarcoplasmic, this shows much bigger size increase and is due to the increase of sarcoplasm (a fluid) in and around the muscle cells. This type of hypertrophy occurs more in the "body building rep range" i.e. 8-12 reps. Now I think that muscle wasteage is actually the loss of sarcoplasm from the muscle which decreases both its size and weight. The only way myofibrillar hypertrophy could be reversed is if the cells were to die. Now assuming the atrophy or this muscle loss is a loss of sarcoplasm this could be why we have this seeming miracle of muscle memory. I think that the loss of sarcoplasm can be quickly reversed and happens when we start exercising again in the "body builders rep range" and the muscles “fill up” with sarcoplasm again and so the size and weight returns to the muscle.
Now I’m not saying I’ve discovered anything new. I’ve never read anything on muscle memory except I’ve heard people speak of it. I was just thinking and this is the conclusion I have come too. Can anyone tell me how close I am to the actual reason this happens?