Why can soccer players kick the ball from a distance of up to 100m? Why can some people play difficult sports such as surfing, skiing, or play many different musical instruments such as piano, saxophone, etc. There are also many skills that we can perform proficiently when we start again, even though we have not practiced for many years, that is, muscle memory. Of course, muscles do not have the ability to remember, but the human brain has this ability.
What is muscle memory?
When we practice a skill for a long time, the brain will gradually remember all the movements in detail and realistically. And over time, we will master all these operations.
When we have mastered a skill, we can do it extremely skillfully without focusing on it. For example, we can ride a bike while enjoying the scenery or talking to friends. Some people have the ability to type extremely fast on a computer without looking at the keyboard.
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The importance of muscle memory
Understanding muscle memory is extremely important in life when we practice any skill, such as playing sports, playing a musical instrument, or learning a foreign language. It is very important that we practice slowly and not in a hurry.
For example, when learning to swim, you need to pay more attention to swimming technique than speed. When learning a foreign language, you need to pay attention to pronouncing each word clearly like a native, instead of speaking quickly.
Have you ever heard of the 10,000-hour rule? According to some scientists, to master any skill, we need to spend 10,000 hours practicing.
This is a reasonable amount of time for the brain to deeply memorize all the skills, and later we can do it again and see it as a natural, unconditional reflex.
Regarding the issue of bodybuilding and muscle memory
To go deeper into the issue of bodybuilding, Muscle memory is even more important. You can easily see this, for example, for a squat exercise, the beginning is terrible for beginners. Squatting requires synchronization between the central nervous system and the body’s motor system.
But this becomes really easy for those who have been squatting for 4-6 months or more. They can control and focus on moving the muscle mass to the maximum. In short, the first time you practice is very difficult, but then the second and third times you will feel much easier than the first time.
Here proves one thing: no exercise is difficult; the problem is how much time you spend on it, so that the brain remembers and improves the action. To explain this, A previously practiced action will record information and store it in a brain area called the Cerebellum. The more you perform this skill, the more effective the training becomes. Even if you take a long break from it.
But when you return to the movement, your muscular system is used to the old performance and performs it more effectively than before. And even if you have been a long-time bodybuilder, take a long break of 3 – 4, for example. Don’t worry that it will take you that many years to return to the old training; the muscle memory will remember, and awareness will help you regain your form in a short time. So what are you waiting for? Start practicing right away! Because your muscles “know” how to remember.
How long do muscles need to rest?
Those of us who work out at the gym understand that training hard for a long period of time continuously is extremely difficult. Because, in addition to working out at the gym, we have many other things to worry about, such as taking care of the family, going to work, and satisfying personal interests.
Therefore, some people, due to forced circumstances, can only work out for a certain period of time. So, what is the maximum amount of time you can rest from training? And why, after a period of rest from training, can we regain muscle faster than when we started training? The answer will be in the section below.
Explaining the benefits of muscle memory
- The mechanism of muscle memory
To answer the above question, when the muscle responds to the first training phase, the muscle will increase in strength and size. This, muscle cells will increase the number of nuclei in the muscle cells, regulating the environment in the cell. The number of nuclei in the cell is proportional to the time of muscle growth.
The good news is that after we stop training, the muscles are not stimulated, but the number of nuclei in the cells is lost very little, so they do not affect the rate of muscle growth.
This means that when we train again, the number of these cell nuclei will still help the muscles grow faster than when we first started training. So what is the maximum rest period? According to some studies by scientists from Oxford University, this period is from 3 to 4 weeks. After 3 to 4 weeks, if you do not train again, your muscles will tend to “atrophy”.
- Take the appropriate rest period for each training cycle
Applying the above method, athletes and those who feel that they have stagnated in weight, or simply feel that they cannot grow bigger. Because you have left your body in a state of stress for too long, it needs a rest period. By doing this, you can rest for about 2 to 3 weeks.
Then go back to the exercise or change to new exercises, and then your muscles will be refreshed. Refresh again and rely on muscle memory to create maximum muscle development. This dispels the old psychological concept that the more you practice, the more you develop and forget about rest.
- Work hard to have a perfect body
Understanding the importance of muscle memory is extremely important not only for bodybuilding but also for all sports and other skills.
The more you practice a certain movement for a long time, you will be able to do it proficiently even if you do not “touch” it for a long time. If, for some reason, you have to stop training for 3 to 4 weeks, you don’t need to worry too much about having to start from zero.
Your muscles will still develop normally if you practice correctly and maintain a good diet. However, after reading this article, you should not arbitrarily stop training for a month because you think “it’s okay, the muscles are still there”. This article is only intended to encourage everyone to train hard, and if something forces you to stop training, you can come back to training at any time.
