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Researchers find that there is no such thing as "using it or losing it".
Quite often, our muscles do things without us really thinking about it. Whether it's playing the guitar, riding a bike or just typing your pbadword at the ATM, we all know that our muscles do things 'without us'. Muscle memory, among other forms, has been the subject of troubling debate for decades, and researchers are finding more and more about how it really works.
But if you do not use them regularly, do you use this ability? In other words, is it "use or lose"?
Muscle memory
Muscle memory is a term used to describe tasks that seem to be easier to perform after a previous practice – even though the practice occurred a very long time ago. It is as if the muscles "remembered" what was going on and returned more quickly to their previous ability.
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This not only affects what you do, but also muscle mbad and training, which helps to explain why athletes with strength training experience a rapid return of muscle mbad and strength, even after long periods of time. of inactivity.
We have known for a long time that if you stop using your muscles, they will contract and over time you will lose muscle mbad. Until recently, scientists also thought that nuclei (the "headquarters" of the cell that builds and maintains muscle fibers) are also lost. However, according to a new review, this is not the case – and the muscles are able to "store" the potential for muscle growth
The key lies in a cell called syncytium – a special type of tissue in which cells are fused so closely that they behave almost like a single cell.
"The heart, the bones and even the placenta are built on these cell networks," says Lawrence Schwartz, author of the new study. "But by far our biggest cells – and our biggest syncytia – are our muscles."
"Muscle growth comes with the addition of new nuclei from stem cells to meet the increased demands for synthesis of larger muscle cells," says Schwartz. "This has led to the hypothesis that a given nucleus controls a defined volume of cytoplasm – so that when a muscle contracts or atrophies as a result of obsolescence or from a disease, the number of myonucleases decreases. "
This hypothesis seemed valid for a long time, but that does not seem to be the case anymore.
Previously, studies had shown kernel degradation caused by atrophy or paralysis. However, more recent research involving genetic markers showed that the decaying nuclei did not belong to the muscles, but rather belonged to inflammatory cells and other cells recruited into an atrophic muscle.
In other words, you never really lose these nuclei and you never really lose your muscle memory.
"The muscles are damaged during extreme exercise and often have to deal with changes in food availability and other environmental factors leading to atrophy. They will not last very long, giving up their kernels in response to each of these insults, "says Schwartz.
He then cites two recent studies, one conducted on rodents and the other on insects, which demonstrated that muscle nuclei are not lost to atrophy and remain even after the onset of muscle death. It makes a lot of sense in terms of evolution: muscles tear during extreme exercise and have to deal with changes in nutrient availability and variation in activity. Abandoning the kernels whenever an unfortunate change occurs would not be very productive, Schwartz says.
"It is well documented in the field of exercise physiology that it is much easier to regain some level of muscle condition through exercise than to reach it first." place, even though there was a long period of training. In other words, the phrase "use or lose" may be more accurately articulated as follows: "use or lose it until you work on it again". "
The study was published in the journal open access boundary.
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