Muscle memory means you do not lose weight when you stop at the gym

It's a common belief that if you stop going to the gym, your muscles get weaker and it will be much harder to get back in shape when you start exercising again.

But new research completely refutes this myth, stating that a phenomenon known as muscle memory is more powerful than previously thought and could even help prevent frailty in older people.

The study, published in the journal boundary in physiologyWe found that muscles built during our teenage years can actually improve our fitness for years despite long periods of absence from training.

This is due to cell control centers, called nuclei, which we acquire when we are young and allow muscles to grow faster when they are recycled, even after our muscle cells have contracted as a result of their inoperability.

This suggests that we can "build up" muscle growth when we are young.

Our muscles contain the largest cells in our body; they fuse together and form a type of tissue called syncytium, which allows cells to behave as a single cell.

"The heart, bones and even the placenta are built on these cell networks," says Lawrence Schwartz, a professor of biology at the University of Mbadachusetts and co-author of the study.

"But our largest cells – and our largest syncytia – are by far our muscles.

"Muscle growth accompanies the addition of new nuclei from stem cells to meet the increased synthesis requirements of larger muscle cells."

These new nuclei are known as myonucleases, which the researchers have identified as being responsible for muscle memory stimulation, despite previous studies claiming that the number of myonucleases in the body decrease after muscle wasting.

"Two independent studies – one on rodents and the other on insects – showed that the fibers did not lose atrophied nuclei, and that they remained even after the beginning. of muscle death, "adds Schwartz.

His discoveries could offer relief to those who have tried to get back to the gym after Christmas, but have not found the time yet.

"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 get it to the first place, even though there was a long period of diversion, "he said. said.

In other words, the phrase "use or lose" could be more accurately defined as "use or lose, until you work on it again."