Monday, 24 September 2012

Memorable Moments




After returning to training I seem to have undergone some noticeable physical changes. It is not just obvious to me but I get comments from others telling me how much different I look and how much I have changed since I began working out again. I believe over the last 6 weeks I have gained a total of 4 kilos in overall body mass. That might not sound like a lot but considering that I am not very tall that is actually quite a lot. In the process I would have changed my body’s composition by losing weight and replacing it with muscle mass.

I could thank myself for a job well done at the gym but I know that the reason for that dramatic change have something to do with what a lot of weight trainers call Muscle Memory. After all this time training I don’t really know what it is exactly and how it really works. I suppose now is as good a time as any to find out more.

The Wiki says that muscle memory is a form of memory procedure that is stored in the brain. This memory is accumulated by the brain over time to perform certain activity more effortlessly without any conscious thought. It all happens in the brain and not from the muscles itself, from enough repetition of a task/activity either from practice or from learning. The activity gets easier over time as your brain learns to encode this information to communicate with the nervous system and the physical body better. Your brain then stores this data for retrieval in the form of emotion and memory. 

Because I have already develop these memories all my brain needs to do is retrieve this data so I can use it. This is why I get bigger and stronger more quickly. It is because my brain has the necessary instructions to help communicate with my body more effectively when compared with someone who has never worked out before.    

Muscle memory can also work against you. For example if you spend a lot of time repeatedly doing a process the wrong way, then you will build muscle memory with those mistakes and can have a hard time relearning that process the right way. Kinda makes me wonder why I have a hard time improving at certain things and are good at others. This is one reason why the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is often true.


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