As the bookish definition goes, muscle memory is the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement.
Let me tell you the same with an example. In my school days (I am in Junior College now), I used to do a lot of cubing. For people who don't know what it is, it's a sport of playing with Rubik's cubes a number similar puzzles. Yes that 6 sided puzzle which is actually fairly easy to solve.
I had a lot of practice and so I could swap with layers move pieces very quickly. And that is a skill all of the people can adapt just by practice. But when I was knew to cubing, (so new that I used to remove the pieces and put them back in order!) I was moving pieces with my palms and took me roughly 15 minutes to solve one.
Fun Fact: Chewing and writing are the simplest examples of muscle memory.
But whenever I do so today, its a matter of a minute. My fingers, or specifically finger muscles, have adapted that skill so much that sometimes pieces move the correct way even without I thinking much. This memory my finger muscles have developed is called as muscle memory.
If you wish to try it at home right now, change an apps position on your phone's home screen and see you open the wrong app many a times unless your fingers readapt the position.
Simply, if you've never shuffled a deck of cards in your life, the first time you try working out with one it'll probably feel heavy and awkward and you will mess up. You'll need to work your way up to lifting impressive shuffles. You need to practice. But if you take a break from working out and return months later, you'll find it's much easier to get back up to the cards you were shuffling before. And the same is true no matter what your exercise of choice—it's simply easier to put lost muscle back on than it is to bulk up for the first time.
Fun Fact: Muscle memory is created by practicing a skill over and over, like cycling, cubing, shuffling cards, etc.
Even the simplest everyday actions involve a complex sequence of tensing and relaxing many different muscles. For most of these actions we have had repeated practice over our lifetime, meaning that these actions can be performed faster, more smoothly and more accurately. Over time, with continual practice, actions as complicated as riding a cycle, shuffling cards, or even playing a tune on a musical instrument, can be performed almost automatically and without thought.
Although certain skills, like cycling, cubing or perfecting a table tennis serve, might require the strengthening of certain muscles, the processes that are important for learning and memory of new skills occur mainly in the brain, not in the muscles. Changes that occur in the brain during skill learning and memory alter the information that the brain sends out to the muscles, thereby changing the movements that are produced.
Fun Fact: Muscle memory is not in your muscles but in your brain.
But hold on, that's not it. Muscle memory is far more different than our normal memory of recollecting words or even learnt answers. This is because the memory for facts, known as declarative memory, is thought to be a different system, controlled by different brain mechanisms, than the one used for memory of life events, known as episodic memory. Muscle memory is a part of episodic memory and not declarative memory.
When you remember something like your mom's phone number, it I likely that you will forget it. Even your studies, the poem you recited long ago or songs you heard years ago all fade away with time. But that's the beauty of muscle memory. When you stress your muscles to the point of hypertrophy, they grow new cells to get stronger. For a long time, the idea was that the same thing happens in reverse if you don't use your muscles—those cells should die off. But that might not be quite right. In simpler words, if you learn and master a skill involving muscles like shuffling a deck of cards or cubing, no matter if you don't practice, you will always remember how to do it. Not on your will by involuntarily.
Fun Fact: Developing a muscle memory is difficult, but once done, it's almost impossible to forget it, even after years.
To put simply, you don't forget how to chew food if you don't eat for days and probably years (if you could). The same goes with muscle memory. In fact, chewing is also a sort of muscle memory which we develop over time.
Same goes with writing. If you don't write for a few months and then you sir to write, you will still be able to do so. Thanks to muscle memory. But if you hear a favourite song and then stop hearing it for months, you would hardly recollect it.
Ok, that's all for today. I just wanted you to know what is muscle memory and wanted to prove that it is real. Muscles remember the actions we perform...
Posts before October 2021 have been marked as "Old Posts". Less likely, but they might have out dated or incorrect information, ugly looking bits of code, no labels, etc. Don't get me wrong, many of these posts are top-notch and interesting too.
I thought it would be better not to delete or revamp these posts, even if they suck. The bitter truth is that old works always suck, but I take that as a positive tool to convey that I am growing. Besides there's no better way to showcase my journey without these old, messy, poorly written posts!
I thought it would be better not to delete or revamp these posts, even if they suck. The bitter truth is that old works always suck, but I take that as a positive tool to convey that I am growing. Besides there's no better way to showcase my journey without these old, messy, poorly written posts!
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