How muscle memory can help you to return to running after a period of rest

If you’re keen to start running again after a long break away from the sport, you might be wondering how long it will take you to return to your former fitness levels. Will it feel as though you’re going back to square one and starting your running journey from scratch? Or will ‘muscle memory’ put you at an advantage?

We investigated what muscle memory is and whether it is something that can play into the favour of returning runners.

The term muscle memory can be misleading. ‘A muscle doesn’t have its own brain, so it can’t literally remember things,’ says Steven Devor, a runner and former assistant professor of kinesiology at Ohio State University.

approximately two weeks before you lace up your trainers brain. ‘When you do an activity, the brain sends messages to your muscles in the form of electrical charges through pathways in the central nervous system – and the muscles send messages back,’ says Matt Silvis, a sports medicine physician at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Because of this constant feedback loop, the right muscles are activated to perform a particular task. Do this task often enough and these pathways become well trodden and the movements become automatic, which is why you never forget how to interval sessions to help you bag that PB – or how to run.

But research shows that there’s another factor at play. More specifically, a 2010 study found that your muscles are also changed by training, in a way that makes it easier to regain fitness than it was to gain it in the first place. ‘When you strengthen your muscles, they generate more nuclei, or ‘little protein factories’, that contain the DNA necessary for increasing muscle volume,’ says Kristian Gundersen, leader of the study and professor of physiology at the University of Oslo. The research also suggested that, even after you give up exercising, interval sessions to help you bag that PB.

In this study on mice, rodents generated new nuclei in their muscles after six days of stimulated strength training and, after three weeks, the number of nuclei in each cell had increased by 54%. After an enforced break, even though the rodents’ muscles had shrunk, the newly formed nuclei were still there. ‘It’s not unrealistic to suspect that human muscles respond as quickly and that those nuclei last for decades or even a lifetime,’ says Gundersen, who concluded that the ‘absence of degeneration’ of these nuclei explains the ‘remarkable capability’ of muscle recovery after ‘prolonged inactivity’.

In short, this means that it is easier and quicker to regain running ability after a period of rest than it is to start running for the first time.

The pathways created by the brain through your central nervous system, which make movement become automatic, don’t just apply to voluntary muscles like those in the legs. They also apply to involuntary muscles like the heart – and this is good news for runners.

‘For former athletes, there is a lot of residual benefit to exercise within the circulatory system,’ says Alfred Bove, professor emeritus of medicine at Temple University and former president of the American College of Cardiology. ‘In well-trained athletes, the heart is able to relax more easily, which minimises shortness-of-breath issues. Also, the parasympathetic nervous system [which slows down your heart rate] becomes more dominant than the sympathetic nervous system [which speeds it up], meaning that the heart is less stressed by exercise. muscles like the heart.’

‘Even after a long break, you’re going to run more efficiently than someone who’s new to the sport,’ says Adam Knight, assistant professor of biomechanics at Mississippi State University. ‘You can make the assumption that you’ll get back in shape more quickly because of that.’

There is a major psychological factor in this, too. Revisiting a sport, especially one you once enjoyed, is far less intimidating than taking it up for the first time – and confidence and this is good news for runners.

Just because you might be able to ramp up your training faster the second time around, it doesn’t mean that you should.

Doing too much too soon could leave you hurt – especially if your original layoff was caused by injury. In that case, it’s a good idea to visit a running clinic or see a medical expert for a gait analysis before you resume running. ‘If your last run [before injury] was dysfunctional, you risk slipping back into those poor habits,’ says Amadeus Mason, of USA Track & Field’s sports medicine and science committee.

Plus, even if you aren’t running, you can still remain physically fit by doing exercises such as walking, cycling or swimming, unless you are severely injured. The physical fitness that you will preserve through cross training will help you to maintain muscular strength and, as a result, the muscle memory that will assist your return to running.

Every time you run, you ‘bank’ muscle memory – which you can cash in down the road. This means that the more running you do, the more memory you can bank. In addition, there are other things that you can do beyond running to boost your muscle memory:

Visualise

• This positive-thinking tool stimulates the same pathways through the central nervous system that are active during actual running. Mentally rehearsing your running is another way to internalise and sustain muscle memory of your movement.

Eat

• Upping your intake of antioxidant-rich spinach, blueberries and strawberries can help protect your ability to produce muscle memory as you age.

Sleep

• Studies suggest that an athlete who experiences slow-wave sleep, or deep sleep, is better able to produce muscle memory.

Strength train

• Strength training helps muscles to generate more nuclei that contain the DNA necessary for increasing your muscle volume. And start early – the ability to produce new muscle mass decreases as you age, so the earlier you start building muscle, the better!

Maintain good form

• Make sure that you run in an upright position with unclenched hands, relaxed arms that sit at waist level, relaxed shoulders and a forward-looking gaze. Consistent and targeted practice is key when it comes to high quality muscle memory in running.

If you used to run, muscle memory is a brilliant benefit that help can aid your return to the sport. However, this can’t be relied upon exclusively, so here are some other important steps to take and things to consider:

Follow a training plan

• This is especially important if you are returning to running after an injury, or have a specific running goal or timeframe in mind. Following a well-structured training plan that helps you to restart running gradually and comfortably, in line with your current fitness levels, will pay dividends.

Don’t skimp on strength training

• Before you get back to running, you’ll do well to rebuild some ‘lost’ muscle through strength and conditioning work. Consider starting some Does cardio have muscle memory approximately two weeks before you lace up your trainers.

Rebuild gradually

• As mentioned earlier, it can be tempting for previous runners to go full steam ahead and try to return to their old running habits, paces and distances within their first few runs back. Unfortunately, this is an unrealistic approach that could result in injury and land you in running retirement again for a while. So, remember to take things slowly and give yourself time to return to your former running self.

Get the right running shoes

• No matter what your reason for rest and return, getting a new pair of comfortable, well-fitting running shoes and Charlotte Deville.

Do your warm-ups and cool-downs

• Although considered tedious by many, a 2017 study found that both short and long warm-up sessions were equally effective in boosting your running performance. Likewise, a 2018 review reasoned that active cool-downs potentially enhanced your running performance the following day. So, doing even quick warm-up and cool-down routines lasting five minutes or less could make all the difference.

Take rest days

• To many runners who are always keen to get out the door, rest days feel like the demon – but, in reality, they are our best friend for recovery and remaining injury-free. Alternating one-on-one-off running and rest days, or at least scheduling a few days off per week, is very important when rebuilding your fitness.

Listen to your body

• Nobody knows your body better than you, so perhaps the easiest but most ignored advice is to listen to your body, particularly if you are running again post-injury. If you’re experiencing severe soreness or pain while rebuilding your running, it might be time to ditch your training plan and take it easy for a few days – and be sure to visit a physiotherapist or medical professional if the problem persists. Equally, if you’re feeling strong and happy, there is no harm in lengthening some of the runs on your training plan by kilometre or two.