From this Science News article Muscles remember past glory:
"Muscles hold memories of their former fitness in nuclei (green, shown on muscle fiber) that help the muscle bounce back to fitness when training begins after a period of inactivity.
Pumping up is easier for people who have been buff before, and now scientists think they know why — muscles retain a memory of their former fitness even as they wither from lack of use.
That memory is stored as DNA-containing nuclei, which proliferate when a muscle is exercised. Contrary to previous thinking, those nuclei aren’t lost when muscles atrophy, researchers report online August 16 in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The extra nuclei form a type of muscle memory that allows the muscle to bounce back quickly when retrained.
The new study suggests that pumping muscles full of nuclei early in life could help stave off muscle loss with age."
The upshot of this research is that dividends will be paid in the future if you strength train now, not when you are old and frail. Strength train when you are younger and you'll be better off than those who opted for non-weight bearing exercises. When you are older and stronger you will:
- Have a stronger immune system and be better able to withstand sickness and disease.
- Have stronger bones and less likely to have the broken bones that comes with the decalcification of bones.
- Have more stamina and a stronger heart. Exercising strong muscles forces the cardiovascular system to make a positive adaptation to the demands placed on it; weak muscles, not so much.
- Have higher quality of life. Do you want to be able to play just nine of holes of golf or eighteen?
Strength effects not only how young we look, but more importantly, how we young we feel. Strength training reverses many of the bio-markers of aging. This does not require hours in the gym. With high intensity strength training you can work the whole body in less than one half hour, and it only need be performed once or twice a week to see continuing results. Your life can be transformed in just minutes a week with the right exercise program.
We have such a strength training program at both our locations - Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training. A little strength training, better eating choices, and an active lifestyle is a program most people can stick to, and it can have profound effects on one's fitness and health.