Muscles Remember. Their Memory Will Help Restore Physical Fitness

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 23:16

Muscles remember. Their memory will help restore physical fitness

The closure of gyms and the general recommendation to leave home as little as possible make it difficult to maintain good physical activity. The new study may delight those who are accustomed to exercise and are now worried about forced restrictions.

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The closure of gyms and the general recommendation to leave home as little as possible make it difficult to maintain good physical activity. A new study, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, may delight those who are accustomed to exercise and are now worried about forced restrictions.

Scientific work has shown that trained muscles "remember" exercise at the molecular level during long periods of inactivity. When physical activity is resumed, "muscle memory" is triggered and accelerates recovery of fitness after a break. Muscles regain their former volume and strength.

“The findings of the study suggest that, in fact, skipping exercise does not necessarily lead to complete decrepitude of the muscles. If we forget about what it is like to be in shape, then the muscles remember it, writes the New York Times of the study.

How was the study

The study involved 19 young people who had never played sports or exercised. The usual weight exercises were unfamiliar to their muscles. Before starting the observation, the scientists measured the strength and muscle volume of the participants.

The study participants were then asked to train only one leg. For 10 weeks, they regularly performed heavy exercises with the right leg, but the left leg was "resting." After that, any exercise was stopped for 20 weeks.

When the young people returned to the laboratory after "vacation", the scientists again checked the condition of the muscles in their legs: this time they performed a biopsy of the muscle tissue. After that, the participants were again loaded with heavy exercises, this time for two legs. Next, the researchers analyzed a large number of different markers associated with muscle health and muscle growth.

It turned out that there was a big difference between the condition of the muscles of the two legs of the participants. Even after 20 weeks, the "pumped-up" leg retained about half of the strength that it acquired during the period of active exercise.

Differences between the muscles of the two legs were also found at the molecular and even genetic level. This indicates that after regular exercise, the muscles do not return to their original state. Both genetically and molecularly trained leg were more prepared for exercise, its muscles were ready for growth.

Did you know about "muscle memory" before?

Earlier studies in both animals and humans suggested that muscles have a semblance of memory of their own. One scientific study showed that older adults who completed 12 weeks of exercise lost a significant amount of their strength after 12 weeks of inactive life. But she fully recovered within 8 weeks after returning to the gym.

But the molecular basis of "muscle memory" could only be studied in animals. For example, it was shown that with constant physical exertion, additional nuclei appear in the muscles of rats and mice, which remain for a long time without training. It was assumed that these nuclei further help the muscles to recover quickly.