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Is muscle memory legit?

So for the last year or so, I completely fell off from gym life. I've still been going gym, but haven't been counting macros/ calories and so have lost a lot of weight, 10kg to be exact. At my peak, I was 92KG, I'm now 80 :cry:

Seeing the gains go is depressing, I imagine it to be like sending your child off to a boarding school and not seeing them for a while and it's like



Anyways, sometime over the next few months, I won't be able to train at all; for 3 months :cry2: So that's not gonna help anything.

I've vaguely read about muscle memory before, but would rather hear about actual experiences...Has anyone experienced it? Is it legit?

:cry:

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Yes.
Reply 2
Original post by UnknownRoyalist
Yes.


Pls elaborate sir :cry2:
I have muscle memory from other tasks compared to gym life so I can say yes.
in my experiences yes.
Reply 5
yes it is. A good book related to this is "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle
Reply 6
Original post by ChickenMadness
in my experiences yes.


You grew back quicker when you went back into it again?
Muscle memory does exist, it happened to my cousin. After 3-6 months the muscle will decrease in size but as soon as you hit the gym again your body will remember and you will quickly gain everything back, it's a lot easier to gain your muscle back while you are young so i wouldn't worry too much about it.
Original post by Zuki
You grew back quicker when you went back into it again?


ye much faster.
Reply 9
Original post by kiran.malik123
Muscle memory does exist, it happened to my cousin. After 3-6 months the muscle will decrease in size but as soon as you hit the gym again your body will remember and you will quickly gain everything back, it's a lot easier to gain your muscle back while you are young so i wouldn't worry too much about it.


Thank you ma'am :cry2:

Won't let me rep so :jumphug:


Original post by ChickenMadness
ye much faster.


I appreciate u breh

:jumphug:
Yeah it is legit.

Had 4/5 months of no training whatsoever.

4-6 weeks got it back. Even 1/2 weeks of high volume work will give the impression it is flooding back.

It is a god send as all your hard work wasn't lost
Reply 11
Original post by Unistudent77
Yeah it is legit.

Had 4/5 months of no training whatsoever.

4-6 weeks got it back. Even 1/2 weeks of high volume work will give the impression it is flooding back.

It is a god send as all your hard work wasn't lost


That's reassuring to hear man,

thanks
In my experience, yes but not the magical speed that people claim.

If you have some gainz still, then you'll initially appear to put on size quickly, but that's just glycogen just going back in and that alone will put a little strength on you. From there, as you know how to train and eat, you'll gain it back slightly faster than the first time, largely as you know what you are doing.

Imo it comes back like 10% faster and then that last bit to where you were exactly (depending on how strong you were) takes the same as previously. Perhaps 20% faster. You don't just bounce back 12kg of gainz :lol:

Inb4 someone mentins the guy who did the Olympia at 54
[QUOTE=Zuki;67815492]That's reassuring to hear man,

thanks

I know them feels bro. Had Bursitis in my shoulder. Managed to break leg at same time.

Then damaged other shoulder as i was trying to protect the bad one.

All in all over 4 months of no training, almost 6 months of very irregular submaximal training.

So i was benching for example 35kg DBs for 12 reps or something.

Barely could bench much over 20s after the bursitis.
4 weeks later using 30s and i'm several kilo lighter so proportionally similar level of strength.

Similar deadlift to before etc etc.

4-6 weeks back and you'll be 90/95% there (relative to bodyweight, if you lose weight when away - which is the aim really, Don't put on fat - then you will obviously not lift as much).
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 14
Original post by Unistudent77
I know them feels bro. Had Bursitis in my shoulder. Managed to break leg at same time.

Then damaged other shoulder as i was trying to protect the bad one.

All in all over 4 months of no training, almost 6 months of very irregular submaximal training.

So i was benching for example 35kg DBs for 12 reps or something.

Barely could bench much over 20s after the bursitis.
4 weeks later using 30s and i'm several kilo lighter so proportionally similar level of strength.

Similar deadlift to before etc etc.

4-6 weeks back and you'll be 90/95% there (relative to bodyweight, if you lose weight when away - which is the aim really, Don't put on fat - then you will obviously not lift as much).




Damn man, glad you got back into it. Still must be discouraging af to see all those years of work go down the drain. I guess a few months isnt too bad to get back what you lost though.

Thanks for sharing your experience bro
[QUOTE=Zuki;67821944]Damn man, glad you got back into it. Still must be discouraging af to see all those years of work go down the drain. I guess a few months isnt too bad to get back what you lost though.

Thanks for sharing your experience bro

Well was only 1 year of progress but in some ways that makes it worse as it is easier to think 'i'm never going to make it' type thing and give up.

But yeah, dw about it. Gains will come back if you're in surplus (hence why i'd advise a shade under maintenance when not training) for 2 months plus.

Don't worry too much about it :smile:
Yes. I personally have it in free-throw shooting
Greg Nuckols (very reputable strength coach and writer) wrote an article which explains the science behind muscle memory (it was originally an article for demonstrate how taking time off can actually lead to increased gains, but the post has been edited to state that more evidence is required to prove this theory - however, the part about how muscle memory works still stands). http://strengtheory.com/grow-like-a-new-lifter-again/
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 18
Original post by WoodyMKC
Greg Nuckols (very reputable strength coach and writer) wrote an article which explains the science behind muscle memory (it was originally an article for demonstrate how taking time off can actually lead to increased gains, but the post has been edited to state that more evidence is required to prove this theory - however, the part about how muscle memory works still stands). http://strengtheory.com/grow-like-a-new-lifter-again/


Will check it out man,

Thanks
Original post by Zuki
So for the last year or so, I completely fell off from gym life. I've still been going gym, but haven't been counting macros/ calories and so have lost a lot of weight, 10kg to be exact. At my peak, I was 92KG, I'm now 80 :cry:

Seeing the gains go is depressing, I imagine it to be like sending your child off to a boarding school and not seeing them for a while and it's like



Anyways, sometime over the next few months, I won't be able to train at all; for 3 months :cry2: So that's not gonna help anything.

I've vaguely read about muscle memory before, but would rather hear about actual experiences...Has anyone experienced it? Is it legit?

:cry:
That's a pretty disproportionate and overblown reaction to having lost a little muscle mass.

What does it even matter, anyway? As long as you're healthy, muscle mass is just another number.

On topic: yes, is it legit - when you're doing things which require actual motor control and dexterity.

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