August is the month when I feel lazy and antsy to get into routine in equal parts.I experienced this the other night when I headed out for my first run in more than a month. The light-footed inspiration of Olympic track stars didn’t translate into my performance. Nope, my legs were like heavy logs stomping the pavement. Summertime visiting, travelling and lounging around had caught up with me – more specifically, my legs. It felt as though they forgot how to move or like a dream sequence where I couldn’t run away. Ugh, back to business, but I know in just a couple weeks sluggishness will be behind me and my muscles will have remembered how to perform thanks to muscle memory.
Muscle memory* is our body’s secret weapon in fast-tracking strength and shaking off that sluggishness to transform back into muscular strength. It describes the ability to regain muscle mass in previously trained muscles.
During periods of time when our muscles aren’t being challenged, we lose muscle mass. But this can be regained faster than the amount of time it took to develop in the first place. This is because when we regularly practice resistance training, our bodies increase the number of nuclei within the muscle cells (called myonuclei) as a way of building reserves for dormant times. Once activated again through exercise, their job is to fire up our muscle machines and bring us up to speed again.
Think of this like depositing into a muscular savings account with the increase in myonuclei the accruing interest. The more we challenge our muscles, the bigger our account grows.
Science is still debating whether myonuclei have a determined life span within muscle tissue. While some studies suggest 15 years, others suggest these little cells become permanent residents in our muscles.
This is good news, especially as we age! Throughout an active lifetime, our bodies ’bank’ these myonuclei not only as a reserve, but also to act as a type of cellular ‘second chance.’
It’s never too late to begin a strength training program, not only to save for the future but also to experience how good it feels to be strong and capable in the here and now.
Join me online for the following strength classes:
Essentrics toning, Wednesdays 7-8 pm
Dynamic Pilates, beginning November 28
Coming January 2025:
Vital Moves for Active Aging
Vital Moves at the Barre
Vital Moves for Balance
*The term is a bit misleading, as it’s our central nervous system that truely stores the memory of movement patterns. It’s like riding a bike, which explains how we can re-learn an exercise sequence quickly. For this, I’m referring to the muscle’s ability to regain strength.
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