drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
Muscle memory is when you're able to quickly gain back muscle that's been lost. Maybe it took you years to build 15 lbs of muscle, then it was lost because you quit training or got hurt. When you get back into the gym, you build that muscle back at a faster rate than it initially took to build it. Now, a study confirms that muscle memory exists at a DNA level, but the implications are controversial.
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Researchers looked at 850,000 sites on human DNA. They figured out that when muscles grow after training, genes get marked or unmarked with chemical tags – epigenetic modification. The tags instruct the gene to turn off or on without changing the DNA. Dr. Sharples sums it up: “The genes in muscle become more untagged with this epigenetic information when it grows following exercise in earlier life. Importantly, these genes remain untagged even when we lose muscle again, but this untagging helps 'switch' the gene on to a greater extent and is associated with greater muscle growth in later life, demonstrating an epigenetic memory of earlier life muscle growth.”
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The controversy has to do with steroids. One researcher noted: "If an athlete takes drugs, his muscle may retain a memory of this prior growth. If the athlete is caught and given a ban, it may be the case that short bans aren’t adequate, as they may continue to be at an advantage over their competitors because they have taken drugs earlier in life, despite not taking drugs anymore.”
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This makes "natural" bodybuilding shows trickier. In most cases, a natural/tested competition only means that the bodybuilder hasn't used drugs for a period of time. It doesn’t mean he's a lifetime natural. And that guy or gal will have an advantage over others who've never used. Earlier steroid use means that the competitor will still be able to build more muscle mass than he could have otherwise done naturally, even if he hasn't used for years. This study implies that previous users will always have an advantage. Not a bad deal for the recreational user, but a big asterisk for those who compete in tested events.
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Researchers looked at 850,000 sites on human DNA. They figured out that when muscles grow after training, genes get marked or unmarked with chemical tags – epigenetic modification. The tags instruct the gene to turn off or on without changing the DNA. Dr. Sharples sums it up: “The genes in muscle become more untagged with this epigenetic information when it grows following exercise in earlier life. Importantly, these genes remain untagged even when we lose muscle again, but this untagging helps 'switch' the gene on to a greater extent and is associated with greater muscle growth in later life, demonstrating an epigenetic memory of earlier life muscle growth.”
-
The controversy has to do with steroids. One researcher noted: "If an athlete takes drugs, his muscle may retain a memory of this prior growth. If the athlete is caught and given a ban, it may be the case that short bans aren’t adequate, as they may continue to be at an advantage over their competitors because they have taken drugs earlier in life, despite not taking drugs anymore.”
-
This makes "natural" bodybuilding shows trickier. In most cases, a natural/tested competition only means that the bodybuilder hasn't used drugs for a period of time. It doesn’t mean he's a lifetime natural. And that guy or gal will have an advantage over others who've never used. Earlier steroid use means that the competitor will still be able to build more muscle mass than he could have otherwise done naturally, even if he hasn't used for years. This study implies that previous users will always have an advantage. Not a bad deal for the recreational user, but a big asterisk for those who compete in tested events.
