Do our muscles have a memory? Muscle memory and its function
Most likely each of us has experienced in the past a situation where we could not train for a long time the way we were used to. Whether it was a lack of free time caused by a lot of work duties or, and in this case, we will probably talk about a more frequent situation, as a result of an injury that in some way excluded us from normal activities. Luckily, such a condition, although temporary, does not necessarily mean that all the long-term effort expended so far, consisting of regular exercise combined with quality diet and regeneration, will be in vain. The key in this case is the so-called muscle memory, which we will discuss in this article in more detail. You will learn what muscle memory is, how it works and how we can get the most out of it. I dedicate this article to all those who despair that their current injury will stop them from achieving their long-term goals.
PHYSIOLOGICAL WINDOW
Cells of most living organisms, with the exception of unicellular organisms, which include bacteria, archaeans and cyanobacteria, can be described as eukaryotic, which means that they consist of the nucleus and cytoplasm - matter that contains other components necessary for its existence. Of course, we have exceptions in the human body. On the one hand, they are red blood cells (erythrocytes) that do not have a nucleus, on the other hand, muscle cells that have several nuclei. And the just mentioned cell nuclei are crucial for the essence of muscle memory to which, I have the guts to say, a number of exercisers and other recreational or professional athletes have thanked very much at least once.
The core is the driving motor of the cell, the unit that controls it. Most muscle cells perhaps contain thousands of them. This is because their function is much greater and more complex than that of other cells, and the larger the muscle, the more nuclei must be involved in its operation in order to fully utilize its function. Furthermore, people taking steroids and those who have genetically determined higher muscle gains have been shown to have much more muscle nuclei than usual. It might therefore seem rationally that if increased muscle activity leads to the proliferation of cell nuclei, the opposite will lead to the exact inverse result, and thus to a reduction / weakening of the muscle and the loss of its nuclei. However, presently known studies reveal that this is not true at all.
It is true that if you stop using muscles for some reason, our body will first lose glycogen (a storage form of carbohydrates that is found in the liver in addition to muscle), water and, after two weeks, muscle protein. Muscle tissue burns almost 3 times more energy (13 kCal vs. 4.5 kCal) during adipose tissue than adipose tissue. It is therefore understandable that the body will not maintain such energy-intensive tissue unless it is used properly. Moreover, the usable energy contained in the muscles is much less (1350 kCal vs. 7700 kCal) than in body fat and it takes a much shorter time to burn.
However, it has also been shown that people who for some reason could not train within 3 months lost up to 50% of their mass, but the number of muscle nuclei remained the same [1]. From this point of view, we can therefore state that muscle cells behave like memory cells - they have coded information about the state of muscle mass before you were forced for any reason to halt regular training. It is not yet completely clear how long these cells "remember", but it can be assumed that it can be a period of 15 years to the whole of human life [2].
HOW TO TRAIN AFTER A LONG PAUSE?
It would be an embellishment and very foolish to expect that after a forced break, immediately after re-engaging in the training process, you will lift your maximum weights and exercise as if nothing had happened. As we stated in the introduction to this article, we cannot avoid muscle atrophy, and therefore we should approach the exercise in such a way that we do not ignore this fact and adjust not only the exercises, but also the number of series, i.e. repetitions. As for the strength component of the training, it is best to start with a full-body workout 3 times a week with practicing one exercise for each of the large muscle parts. If you feel unwell, you can involve either endurance physical activity (such as a bike) or HIIT training. After 3-4 weeks, you can switch to a three-day, i.e. four-day split, depending on the nature and seriousness of your injury. Regrettably, no one will tell you exactly how long after you resume training to return to your original muscle volume, because it is very individual. However, we can estimate the range of 4-12 weeks [3].
NUTRITION
An unshakable basis for building muscle (even after injury) is a sufficient intake of quality protein. In this regard, we refer to our highly read and still up-to-date articles. For example, the one about protein sources in commonly available foods. Of course, there is an upsurge in protein intake through nutritional supplements, the range of which is really wide nowadays, whether it is proteins or individual amino acids (do not forget those that our body cannot create on its own, the so-called essential amino acids). In the end, we must not forget creatine.
SOURCES
BRUUSGAARD, J. et al. No change in myonuclear number during muscle unloading and reloading. Journal of Applied Physiology. Volume 113, 2nd edition, 2012.
BRUUSGAARD, J. et al. Myonuclei acquired by overload exercise precede hypertrophy and are not lost on detraining. PNAS. Volume 34, 107th edition, 2010.
BRUUSGAARD, J. et al. In vivo time-lapse microscopy reveals no loss of murine myonuclei during weeks of muscle atrophy. Journal of Clinical Investigation. Volume 114, 4th edition, 2008.
