
Muscle memory can help you get back in shape faster after a break from exercise. You can read about the current state of research and what all this has to do with cycling here.
Muscle memory is a phenomenon whereby muscles appear to be able to “remember” their past performance. Although muscle cells do not have a brain and therefore cannot actually store memories, researchers have suspected muscle memory for some time. This could explain the fact that muscles, once trained, quickly regain their old muscle strength even after longer breaks.
You can always use muscle memory when it comes to muscle strength. If you start your sports activities again after a break, the muscle memory effect makes it easier for you to get started. For example during a workout, yoga or jogging.
But muscle memory can also be useful for a strenuous bike ride or a demanding hike. Muscles that have already been trained can build on the strength they have already gained thanks to their “memory”. After a break in training, you don’t have to start from scratch again.
Muscle memory: the evidence

(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / tanjashaw)
Experts have not yet been able to clearly explain which processes take place in the cells during the muscle memory effect. Two studies now appear to be tracking muscle memory. However, the results raise further questions. The studies observed different effects that they attribute to muscle memory. Thus, there are at least two possibilities for the location of muscle memory.
Likewise, there is still no answer as to how long the memory effect in the muscles lasts. One of the tests shows that the effect lasts for at least a seven-week break from training.
- Changes in DNA: A study from England sees muscle memory in the DNA of muscle cells. As the science magazine Scinexx reports, the researchers found that the subjects built up significantly more muscles after they resumed training. The muscles grew on average twice as compared to the first training phase. They attribute the muscle memory effect to changes in the epigenetic deposits on the DNA strands. Such epigenetic deposits can occur, for example, through diet or living conditions. They block parts of the cell DNA. The increased muscle activity in the first phase of training had cleared the DNA of these deposits. After a seven-week break from training, the muscles were still free of deposits and were therefore able to work more effectively in the second round of training.
- Number of cell nuclei: The second research group from Norway sees a connection with the muscle memory effect in the number of cell nuclei. According to the medical portal DocCheck, muscles can form between 100 and 1,000 cell nuclei. In the study, researchers administered steroids to mice. Due to this doping agent, the number of cell nuclei in the muscle cells increased and also remained in the doping break. After subsequent stress training, the muscles of the doped mice gained 30 percent more mass than the muscles of a non-doped comparison group. Such means are prohibited in professional sports for muscle building.
Muscle memory is more than motor memory

(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / Antranias)
For a long time it was unclear how muscle memory works and where it should be located. So far, experts have explained the rapid muscle build-up by saying that experienced athletes can train more effectively.
That is certainly part of the explanation. The brain has already stored the movement sequences in the motor memory. The sequences of movements are stored in the brain, similar to a computer program.
Motor memory explains, for example, that you unconsciously remember learned movement sequences even after several years. Even if you haven’t been on a bike for years, you can still get on it and start riding. You don’t forget how to ride a bike.
This automated motor memory uses, for example:
- Tennis players: The basic movements run automatically, so you can concentrate fully on the gameplay and your tactics.
- Dancers: The motor memory helps them to recall the complex choreographies automatically.
- Musicians: Through regular practice, they can access the stored movement sequences and concentrate on the interpretation of the pieces of music.
However, motor memory does not explain why you can quickly regain your old strength potential after a break in training. The muscle memory effect is responsible for this. This allows your muscles to “remember” previous growth and build on it.
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