Muscle Memory

[YngiweRhoads]

Pumping up is easier for people who have been buff before, and now scientists think they know why — muscles retain a memory of their former fitness even as they wither from lack of use.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/62297/title/Muscles_remember_past_glory

[SF1900]

I thought this fact was established for quite a while? 

[Dr Kincaid]

Finally science catches up with Joe Wieder.

[mass243]

How long muscles remember their former glory?

I've been not training for 4-5 years and now making a comeback... doesn't seem like my muscles remember their past so great 

Actually I'm a bit disappointed as I was told by everybody that you get "huge" easily after break as you once was there..... So fuck the muscle memory!

[dyslexic]

Fantastic article-- and true. I'm living proof.

When you are younger you are so afraid of losing muscle, like it happens over-night or something.


Solid gains stay forever. Steroid gains... well, that's another story.


Seeing Ed Corney after a stroke and at nearly 80 years old just solidified that article for me. He is still huge. Not ripped, but huge. I think that your bodyfat levels should stay low after you stop working out too. My arms are still over 17 inches cold and I haven't really done anything serious and consistent in almost a year... maybe less. I take a year off now and again, keep my Bodyfat levels low, and I don't really notice anything different.


Call it homo... I mean homeo-stasis: all things being equal. Once your body is used to holding a certain amount of solid muscular weight (especially if you gained it in your younger years and have had it for quite some time)- I firmly believe it ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon.


Good article!

[mass243]

Fantastic article-- and true. I'm living proof.

When you are younger you are so afraid of losing muscle, like it happens over-night or something.


Solid gains stay forever. Steroid gains... well, that's another story.


Seeing Ed Corney after a stroke and at nearly 80 years old just solidified that article for me. He is still huge. Not ripped, but huge. I think that your bodyfat levels should stay low after you stop working out too. My arms are still over 17 inches cold and I haven't really done anything serious and consistent in almost a year... maybe less. I take a year off now and again, keep my Bodyfat levels low, and I don't really notice anything different.


Call it homo... I mean homeo-stasis: all things being equal. Once your body is used to holding a certain amount of solid muscular weight (especially if you gained it in your younger years and have had it for quite some time)- I firmly believe it ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon.


Good article!

Bullshit!
I'm living proof of opposite. I stopped training at very young age for 4-5 years.
At the "prime" I was weighing 243 pounds. Of course all of it wasn't muscle but I wasn't fat so there was significant amount of muscle in my body. Pretty much it all disappeared in a year.

Now I'm starting again. At the complete start few months back I weighed about 180 pounds. Now after few months of training I don't know my weigh but I wouldn't exactly call my gains 'muscle memory'....  

Call me anything you want but your theory of muscle gained at young age staying on for rest of your life is total crap. I lost it all.

[Captain Equipoise]

How long muscles remember their former glory?

I've been not training for 4-5 years and now making a comeback... doesn't seem like my muscles remember their past so great 

Actually I'm a bit disappointed as I was told by everybody that you get "huge" easily after break as you once was there..... So fuck the muscle memory!

Maybe you weren't that 'huge' to begin with ?

[mass243]

Maybe you weren't that 'huge' to begin with ?

Yeah, for sure I was not huge.
But I weighed 243 at my 'peak'. Now few months back after 4-5 years of complete lay off from training I weighed about 180. There IMO is pretty big gap there.

[Captain Equipoise]

Yeah, for sure I was not huge.
But I weighed 243 at my 'peak'. Now few months back after 4-5 years of complete lay off from training I weighed about 180. There IMO is pretty big gap there.

How long you been back in the gym?.. it's gonna take at least a few months of consistent eating and lifting..

[mass243]

How long you been back in the gym?.. it's gonna take at least a few months of consistent eating and lifting..

I have trained now about 2 months...
Of course I have gained little and strength have increased but nothing what I would call rapid pace.

Maybe as I keep training the muscle memory will at some point kick in.. hopefully 

[DK II]

How long you been back in the gym?.. it's gonna take at least a few months of consistent eating and lifting..

It also depends on how long you have been lifting before.

I would say if you have been lifting 10, 20 years+ and then stop for 4-5 years, you will be able to go back very fast COMPARED TO AN UNTRAINED person. Still takes a lot of effort and is not a miracle happening overnight.

[KevinP85]

Bullshit!
I'm living proof of opposite. I stopped training at very young age for 4-5 years.
At the "prime" I was weighing 243 pounds. Of course all of it wasn't muscle but I wasn't fat so there was significant amount of muscle in my body. Pretty much it all disappeared in a year.

Now I'm starting again. At the complete start few months back I weighed about 180 pounds. Now after few months of training I don't know my weigh but I wouldn't exactly call my gains 'muscle memory'....  

Call me anything you want but your theory of muscle gained at young age staying on for rest of your life is total crap. I lost it all.

Bad genetics??

[DK II]

Bad genetics??

I guess he was just a fat 240lbs.

When a guy says "of course it wasn't all muscle but it wasn't fat", you can be sure he was A LOT fatter than he wants to admit.

[mass243]

I guess he was just a fat 240lbs.

When a guy says "of course it wasn't all muscle but it wasn't fat", you can be sure he was A LOT fatter than he wants to admit.

Cool down wannabe badass

It was enough of muscle to make your mom scream for pleasure

I would say I was somewhere at 15% bf. Yes, a lot but never claimed that was contest weight. And it was probably less than yours 

[mass243]

Bad genetics??

Might be 

Building muscle relatively fast never was a problem but keeping it up without training seemingly was.

[JasonH]

Fantastic article-- and true. I'm living proof.

When you are younger you are so afraid of losing muscle, like it happens over-night or something.


Solid gains stay forever. Steroid gains... well, that's another story.


Seeing Ed Corney after a stroke and at nearly 80 years old just solidified that article for me. He is still huge. Not ripped, but huge. I think that your bodyfat levels should stay low after you stop working out too. My arms are still over 17 inches cold and I haven't really done anything serious and consistent in almost a year... maybe less. I take a year off now and again, keep my Bodyfat levels low, and I don't really notice anything different.


Call it homo... I mean homeo-stasis: all things being equal. Once your body is used to holding a certain amount of solid muscular weight (especially if you gained it in your younger years and have had it for quite some time)- I firmly believe it ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon.


Good article!

Agreed - I'm the same - I've had so many "lay-offs" in the past five years or so that every time I go back to the gym I can recover relatively quickly. I'm not sure about anyone else, but depending on how long I've been off it takes me that amount of time again to get back to my previous size and strength levels. For example, if I take a month off, then it'll take a month to recover again - it happens every time. That's why I'm never bothered when I lose muscle when I don't train, because I know it'll go straight back on when i return to the gym and my eating regimen.

[dave19]

Cool down wannabe badass

It was enough of muscle to make your mom scream for pleasure

I would say I was somewhere at 15% bf. Yes, a lot but never claimed that was contest weight. And it was probably less than yours 

If you don't have a clue about bodyfat percentages just don't give wild guesses.

243 @ 15% .. I'd love to see a pic of that. Usually when people say they are at about 15% they are actually closer to 25%. I'm usually pretty lean but nowhere as lean as some people think I am. When I get asked how much bodyfat I've got on me and I tell people sth. like 11% they freak out and call bullshit and tell me I'm no higher than 6%....

Bottom line is bf percentages are pretty much useless if everyone just gives his best guess. Just go by the mirror .. and I bet your 243 were NOT close to being ripped.
15% you can usually see your top abs , 12% = clearly visible abs..

[_bruce_]

All information since the dawn of time is stored in every cell of the body...
sure having been buff takes up 99% of the information.

[DK II]

If you don't have a clue about bodyfat percentages just don't give wild guesses.

243 @ 15% .. I'd love to see a pic of that. Usually when people say they are at about 15% they are actually closer to 25%. I'm usually pretty lean but nowhere as lean as some people think I am. When I get asked how much bodyfat I've got on me and I tell people sth. like 11% they freak out and call bullshit and tell me I'm no higher than 6%....

Bottom line is bf percentages are pretty much useless if everyone just gives his best guess. Just go by the mirror .. and I bet your 243 were NOT close to being ripped.
15% you can usually see your top abs , 12% = clearly visible abs..

that's what i mean.

[mass243]

Bottom line is bf percentages are pretty much useless if everyone just gives his best guess. Just go by the mirror .. and I bet your 243 were NOT close to being ripped.
15% you can usually see your top abs , 12% = clearly visible abs..

I'm not going to start arguing with anybody about this more. As I said, I was not ripped yet I was not looking like Fatpanda. And your 25% is too high... that makes you actually 'FAT FAT'.
Lucky thing is going to gym was just a hobby to me and it is just that again after break. Not making my living out of it   Chill out please and start training yourself and maybe one day you might look like you have actually worked out. That's what I'm trying.
So fuck this conversation here. Anybody can think what they want. Happy?

The point here is, I am claiming that this muscle memory thing does not seem to work - at least not for me. And originally I was asking how long muscles remember their former glory!? And is this muscle memory 'individual thing' as I believe it is.

Or is this like "oh, muscle memory only applies IFBB pros"   

[dave19]

I'm not going to start arguing with anybody about this more. As I said, I was not ripped yet I was not looking like Fatpanda. And your 25% is too high... that makes you actually 'FAT FAT'.
Lucky thing is going to gym was just a hobby to me and it is just that again after break. Not making my living out of it   Chill out please and start training yourself and maybe one day you might look like you have actually worked out. That's what I'm trying.
So fuck this conversation here. Anybody can think what they want. Happy?

The point here is, I am claiming that this muscle memory thing does not seem to work - at least not for me. And originally I was asking how long muscles remember their former glory!? And is this muscle memory 'individual thing' as I believe it is.

Or is this like "oh, muscle memory only applies IFBB pros"   

You know "not ripped yet but not looking like Fatpanda" is not exactly a good assessment.
I just know that 99% of guys who say things like that look like shit. A guy with a great body will just
show it while a guy who looks mediocre will say that he is 250 pounds while still being fairly lean.

Working out is a hobby to me as well but I really enjoy it and so I never took a break (aside from sickness..). I've been in great shape pretty much for the better part of my life.

Muscle memory DOES work but I guess it highly depends on how far you actually took your physique before the break and of course how long that break is going to be.

I once got very sick and lost about 30 pounds. Had them back on within like 6 weeks.


Now let's say you're going to train for 1-2 years then stop for 2-3 years and get back into it .. I doubt that you'll have those "muscle memory gains"

[Hulkotron]

If he was a fat 243 lbs he probably wouldn't be 180 now guys.  How many fat guys lose 60 pounds when they stop working out?

[Captain Equipoise]

It also depends on how long you have been lifting before.

I would say if you have been lifting 10, 20 years+ and then stop for 4-5 years, you will be able to go back very fast COMPARED TO AN UNTRAINED person. Still takes a lot of effort and is not a miracle happening overnight.

Exactly.. I think he'll see some good progress in another 2 months..

[Kim Jong Bob]

trained 10 years, took a 4 year rest and started up again this summer, grew like weed the first 3 months. to bad i got lazy again =/
working nights and having a 2 year old is not good for your motivation to train

[dyslexic]

Cool down wannabe badass

It was enough of muscle to make your mom scream for pleasure

I would say I was somewhere at 15% bf. Yes, a lot but never claimed that was contest weight. And it was probably less than yours 

Careful... you are displaying your obvious ignorance too quickly.


Chill the fuck out. I don't have an agenda here, obviously you have a hard time seeing the trees for the forest.


Need help with that statement?


Here you go, read slowly Beavis:

"Definition: overly concerned with detail; not understanding the whole situation

Explanation: Used when expressing that a person is focusing too much on specific problems and is missing the point

Examples: I'm afraid you can't see the forest for the trees. - He often can't see the forest for the trees and needs to have the most relevant points explained to him."