Muscular memory: what is it and how to develop it?

The body's ability to respond to physical activity after a long pause and achieve past results is due to the work of muscle memory.

Muscle memory develops as a result of physical activity and ensures the restoration of muscle mass after prolonged downtime. The human body is able to remember the level of muscle tone that occurred in nerve cells and the structure of muscle fibers. Long-term changes occur in the body, information about which falls into the motor cortex of the human brain. All information about the number of muscle contractions and any other physical activity is stored in the brain structures. Physical actions, brought to automatism, fall into the storage of memory.

The formation of such memorization occurs on an unconscious level. The main purpose of muscle memory is to resume training after forced interruption and use at your own discretion. This process provides the athlete with a quick recovery of his athletic form after a long pause associated with an illness, injury, business trip, childbirth or due to another circumstance. People who used to play sports recover faster after a heart attack, stroke, and other serious illnesses.

Besides, well-developed muscle memory helps reduce the risk of injury.

Muscle memory works through the interaction of muscles and the brain, the connecting component of which is the nervous system. During the exercise, the brain evaluates their level and decides which organs and parts of the body to use. Impulses are sent through the nerve fibers to the muscles, which are able to perform the necessary actions to achieve the desired result. Information is captured in muscle fibers. If necessary, perform similar exercises in the future, the muscles are ready for its implementation.

This type of memory is closely related to muscle fibers of a certain size. They are a fusion of several cells that combine the cytoplasm. A multi-core system is inherent in muscle fiber. Satellite cells are capable of fission to increase the number of nuclei, each of which is surrounded by ribosomes. It is in them that protein synthesis occurs. These processes lead to the growth of muscle fiber, which can be 5 times the size of a single-core cell. There are few nuclei in untrained fibers, therefore they have small parameters.

During a hard workout, the muscles are in a stressful situation. Over time, the overgrown fiber lacks the available nuclei, and the muscles reach their maximum. The basis of muscle memory is made up of new nuclei formed as a result of overload. With subsequent muscle atrophy, they are not removed, but are in sleep mode. Inactive nuclei at this time do not synthesize proteins.

The work of muscle memory is easiest to track when observing people engaged in bodybuilding. Lack of training leads to a decrease in muscle mass. This does not mean that the additional nuclei formed have begun to die. They go into standby mode.

With the resumption of physical exertion, the nervous system provides increased excitability of motor neurons located in the right hemisphere of the brain, and sends certain signals to muscle fibers. Musculature also sends impulses to the brain structures. Neuromuscular conjugation improves. The accelerated growth of new blood vessels and increased nutrition of the motor block, protein synthesis in the muscles allow a previously trained person to quickly recover after a long break.

The research results indicate the imprinting and preservation in the muscle memory of the once overpowered muscle load over a long period of time. Contrary to the expectations of the scientists conducting the experiments, the cell nuclei formed by increasing the level of muscle activity are not lost with a decrease in the intensity of training. Studies have shown that for 3 months the muscles were not used, but they were in standby mode. After a person returned to exercise, hypertrophic processes intensified, protein synthesis in muscle cells intensified. The kernels began to function fully. The subjects were able to quickly return to their physical form.

The storage period of information in muscle memory is not exactly known. It lasts a very long time, so after a forced break in training, the muscle volume of athletes is much easier and faster to build than when pumping body weight for beginners. Cores created by training are held for at least 2 months. They can remain for many years. An adult can easily return to the sport in which he was engaged in childhood.

At a young age, the process of increasing muscle mass occurs much faster than in older people. Although recorded cases of muscle buildup by 90-year-olds.

Give muscles the volume and strength help long-term proper training and their rigorous analysis. Experts recommend the use of individually designed programs. It is best to do the exercises with the help and supervision of a qualified instructor. Improper exercise can harm the body. Incorrect information is imprinted in the muscle memory, which the muscles will use in the future.

A gradual increase in workload is recommended. In this case, the muscles adapt well. Each new weight overcome improves coordination, gives the body strength and endurance. If there is no progress during getting used to certain exercises, you can pause their execution. The technique of reproducing training tasks remains in the muscle memory, so the efforts to restore it after returning to the gym will be minimal.

Psychological methods based on self-hypnosis help to achieve the desired results faster. They are used along with physical activity.

• Before going to bed, it is recommended to represent your perfect body. In moments of immersion in sleep and in moments of awakening, you need to mentally reproduce the desired muscles. The image is imprinted and sent to the structure of the brain. At each awakening at night, the manipulation must be repeated again and again.
• Experts advise mentally imagine a red-hot ball. It is necessary to clearly feel it and begin to roll over all parts of the body. First you need to try to move this ball to the larynx, then lower it to the solar plexus, then you need to redirect the imaginary object to the hip part of the body and, finally, it should touch the foot. Exercise should be done 5 times before going to bed. It helps pave a new path to nerve endings.