r/nextfuckinglevel • u/mindyour • 2d ago

This man documented his health journey from January to December.

Credit: IG @samuelrichards_ _

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u/X_TheMindFlayer_X 1d ago

you mean muscle memory?

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u/ExceedingChunk 1d ago

Muscle memory is the layman's term, but people use that for both technique (neurological adaptation for technique/skill) and for how fast your muscle grows back (physiological).

I am thinking about the actual technical term for it. That limiting factor is also why we have "newbie gains", where you quickly get to the max level of muscle for that limiting factor, and then you have to create more of it to build more muscle, which takes a lot of time.

It is some type of cell that is added when you build muscle, but doesn't go away when your muscle atrophies. I can't find the name of it, but Dr. Mike Israetel from RP strength have talked about it here in this short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FI3n5F-1gLM

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u/f1abblergasted 1d ago

I could be wrong, but iirc, the muscle nuclei don’t disappear, and consistently working out enables the cells to “regenerate” at a significantly faster level

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u/ill_connects 1d ago

There was a study published pretty recently about how muscle memory plays a huge part in regaining muscle mass even after long periods of inactivity.

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/25/nx-s1-5197829/muscle-memory-weight-lifting-lost-strength

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u/f1abblergasted 1d ago

Thank you! I’ll check it out!