Muscle Memory? True or False??

**mustang331** · 10-31-2008, 07:09 AM

Lets use me for example.. A couple/few years ago I was lean and strong.. Able to do 20 full pull ups, bench around 290 and deadlift over 400.

Now I am a fat out of shape slob, getting back into it I cannot even do 1 pull up and need to use the pull up assist machine to help me do 6

That said, is there such thing as muscle memory? Basically will it be easier to put the muscle back on as I once had or does it take the same amount of time as it did when I was fresh, no muscle at all..

**smokeyd** · 10-31-2008, 07:29 AM

well i have read studys that say its not true and it makes since what they say but then again i know myself that i was benching pretty heavy several years ago and layed of for about 6 months and couldnt put up shit, it didnt take me near as long to get back to heavy weight as it did the first time

**MuscleScience** · 10-31-2008, 07:56 AM

Your strength adaptations go by about 3 months after sessation of training. The motor pathways that were trained do not seem to deminish, at least that is the current thinking.

**AdamGH** · 10-31-2008, 09:18 AM

I didnt train for about 10 years. In almost 6 months, I am back at my same strength. On top of that I am back to how I looked 10 years ago, actually probably better since I watch what I eat now. Their is no way a person who never worked out would be at my strength and build in 6 months time(naturally). So I totally believe it.

**mustang331** · 10-31-2008, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by AdamGH

I didnt train for about 10 years. In almost 6 months, I am back at my same strength. On top of that I am back to how I looked 10 years ago, actually probably better since I watch what I eat now. Their is no way a person who never worked out would be at my strength and build in 6 months time(naturally). So I totally believe it.

Well that's great news.. I guess I will be able to test this theory as well..

I need to search for some old threads of mine and see if I wrote down what my lifts were

**AdamGH** · 10-31-2008, 10:04 AM

here is my thread if you want to check it out:

So far So good!

**j4ever41** · 10-31-2008, 11:33 AM

yes you will come back fairly quick.

**Voland** · 10-31-2008, 03:10 PM

true for strenght also true for muscle re-gains but they are slower that strenght. at least for me.

**kraken** · 10-31-2008, 03:33 PM

I am very thankful for muscle memory. Damn layoffs

**IronReload04** · 10-31-2008, 04:01 PM

muscle science....when you train, you can get new nuclei right? do those nuclei stay or go after sessation of training. if they go, do them come back quicker?

if you ask me, that is probably where the secret lies with "muscle memory"

**MuscleScience** · 10-31-2008, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by IronReload04

muscle science....when you train, you can get new nuclei right? do those nuclei stay or go after sessation of training. if they go, do them come back quicker?

if you ask me, that is probably where the secret lies with "muscle memory"

Yes and no, The muscle cells themselves completely mitotically arrest shorty before or after birth. I am not sure there is a clear answer on that yet. What that means is that muscle cells are so specialized in their function that they no longer can undergo cell division (mitosis). Which is also known as hyperplasia when referring to and organ or muscle tissue.

Now through the process of metaplasia which is when one cell transforms into another the muscle fiber can gain a nucleus. Remember that a muscle fiber is multinucleated so its basically a bunch of cells with a common cell membrane.

Satelite cells which are the support cells for skeletal muscle and aid in repair can donate a nucleus to a muscle fiber. Satellite cells are basically a primitive cell meaning they do not have a specific function much like a stem cell if you will.

If a muscle fiber is under extreme stress or injury. A satellite cell will divide giving us one new satellite cell and the other will incorporate into the muscle fiber and its primitively expressed genes will aid in muscle fiber repair and will eventually mature into a functional part of the muscle itself.

It is important to know that the current literature does not support satellite cell metaplasia as a significant means of increasing muscle mass. Hypertrophy is still considered the only way to increase muscular size.

**swol_je** · 10-31-2008, 07:09 PM

I believe in it and thank it every time I have to work 12 hr days for the whole summer. Its hard getting all the food that a person need to grow when you gotta bust ur ass in the heat all day.

**IronReload04** · 11-01-2008, 01:04 PM

goodstuff ms

**Older lifter** · 11-01-2008, 08:38 PM

I used to work in a job that took me away from the gym and good food for long periods and i have the body type that looses weight quickly, what i found was that each time i returned to the gym i gained back weight quicker than a similar person working and eating the same way. However this does get slowwer and harder the older you get.

**jg42058p** · 11-02-2008, 01:38 PM

a similar experience happened to me when I stopped lifting for 3 years straight. I lost pretty much all the strength I had but it took me about 3 months to get it back once I started training again. I grew more in those 3 months than I had grown before (I had been training for 5 years before I stopped) and after 3 months of diet and exercize I gained all my muscle back..

so I do agree with most of the posts here, the muscles do have some kind of memory property that will make it easier to return to where you were previously... Getting beyond that strength you once had would however take some longer time.

**AdamGH** · 11-02-2008, 02:46 PM

Yea, getting back is not so bad. going past that seems to get harder as you get older. im starting to realize a little bit now. i have lot more aches and pains than i did in my early 20's.