I stopped working out about 5 years ago. I started up again about 4 months ago and I'm almost back to where I was strength wise. I'm only like 15-20 pounds of strength away from where I was.
Someone told me that muscles have a memory, is this true?
|
Thread: Do your muscles have a memory?
-
08-20-2005, 02:48 PM #1
-
08-20-2005, 03:02 PM #2
-
08-20-2005, 03:08 PM #3
-
08-20-2005, 03:09 PM #4
-
-
08-20-2005, 03:10 PM #5
-
08-20-2005, 03:12 PM #6
It has been theorized that multi-nucleation might explain the longstanding anecdotal phenomenon most athletes call "muscle memory".
Muscle memory is recognized when someone who has had substantial muscular mass and then lost it due to injury or layoffs from training, returns to training and regains the majority of the mass in a much shorter time than was initially required to develop it.
What could be happening is that the specific muscle proteins in the muscle were cannibalized by the body for energy production during non-use. The muscle, however, retains a higher than average number of nuclei that the previous exercise stress caused the body to create.
When presented with exercise and proper nutrients, new protein synthesis can occur at an accelerated rate.
The short version....Yes!
-
08-20-2005, 03:19 PM #7
I was going to the gym for about 3 years full on and was weighing about 202 lbs then I badly dislocated my shoulder and was out of action for about another 3 years. In that time I dropped down to 178 lbs.
2 months ago I started back and I am already at 191 lbs and I am lifting the same amount as I was before I stopped and that is without supps. I think I will exceed my previous size in about another 2 months. Muscles definitely have memory.
-
08-20-2005, 05:47 PM #8
Yes, through proprioceptions. Your CNS "remembers" things like movements as well as amount of force required to lift something. It's on of the reasons why repetitive tasks like swinging a golf club or riding a bike become thoughtless acts after a while. The CNS force proprioceptions are how your body knows how much force to use on a lift. For example, if you had two identical chairs but one weighed more than the other, after lifting the heavier chair 10 times, what would happen if you lifted the lighter one? You'd use more force than was needed and the chair would get lifted very quickly. It's the same reason why most people feel like the first rep is harder, because your body is trying to figure out how much force it needs to complete the lift. After that first rep the rest kind of fall into a groove.
I don't know either lol
-
-
08-20-2005, 05:50 PM #9
- Join Date: Jun 2003
- Location: New Jersey, United States
- Age: 61
- Posts: 8,575
- Rep Power: 3178
Not only do muscles have memory but they're freakin smart too. I tried to fool mine into believing I once had 20" arms and they wouldn't buy it
"Franco is pretty smart, but Franco's a child, and when it comes to the day of the contest, I am his father. He comes to me for advices. So it's not that hard for me to give him the wrong advices." - Arnold Schwarzenegger - Pumping Iron
-
08-20-2005, 06:15 PM #10
-
08-20-2005, 06:27 PM #11
-
08-20-2005, 06:31 PM #12
-
-
08-20-2005, 08:03 PM #13
-
08-20-2005, 09:37 PM #14
-
08-20-2005, 09:48 PM #15
-
08-21-2005, 01:23 AM #16
-
-
08-21-2005, 01:27 AM #17
I think a good example is the old empty carton of milk thing.
When you go to lift a carton of milk, thinking its full and then lifting it much higher and faster then you expected. Your muscles knew how much force normally would have been needed to lift it and apply it only to realize it was empty and used way too much.
-
08-21-2005, 06:55 AM #18
I guess it is not only for muscles, the same thing happens to other parts of body.
That's why obese people have a hard time losing weight. Because they have been in that weight for so long, their bodies remember exactly how they used to be even after losing weight. So it is extremely easy for them to gain the weight back.
-
08-21-2005, 10:38 AM #19
-
08-21-2005, 01:20 PM #20Originally Posted by bbgbo
Please. For the love of god, people, don't ever let yourself get fat. Never. Not even once.Stats: Ugly, fat and weak.
Immediate Goal: Quit being fat.
Long Term Goal: Quit being weak.
Potato ('before' pic):
[url]http://www.getimpactnow.com/body/2004.jpg[/url]
Progress Pic:
[url]http://www.getimpactnow.com/body/2005july24_biflex.jpg[/url]
I was born in '66 people. Cut me some slack.
-
-
08-21-2005, 01:46 PM #21
-
08-21-2005, 01:49 PM #22
Bookmarks