Exercise is the key to a healthy lifestyle, but COVID has forced many people to take time off from the gym. When you’re on a hiatus, you might be concerned about losing the progress you’ve built, but new research shows your muscles have memories.
“As long as you stay active, you’re creating muscle memory, you’re in the process of that,” explained Curtis McGee, a fitness expert.
Here’s how it works: every time you work out, you build a foundation of strength and endurance, so your muscles literally remember what they’re supposed to do.
“So, if I ran a mile, and I’m used to running a mile, and I stop running a mile for a while, and then I begin to start running a mile, there’s a chance that I will adapt to that much faster than never having run a mile,” McGee said.
A new study conducted in mice suggests you can build muscle memory no matter how long it’s been since you’ve hit the gym. Researchers found animals that participated in weighted-wheel workouts were able to add more muscle more quickly when they retrained after 12 weeks of inactivity compared to the mice that never trained. Twelve weeks is about ten percent of a mouse’s lifespan.
Scientists say this study suggests humans’ muscles should remain primed to respond to the exercises when they start again -- even years later.
“All you’re doing is recalling it,” said McGee.
The bottom line? No workout is a wasted one!
If you have to take a break from the gym, you might want to up your consumption of protein. In one study, increased protein intake reduced the loss of lean body mass in athletes even when they weren’t training.