What Is Muscle Memory and How Can You Use It To Perform Maximum Vertical Jumps
Muscle memory, what it is and what it isn’t. I have heard a lot of people use the term muscle memory in several different ways. I think it is important to know what muscle memory is and how you can apply it to your training.
What some people do say, “I’m going to start training again, I’m not as strong as I used to be but my muscles, they remember how strong I was so I will get stronger really quick, as soon as my muscles remember that”. While you could make a case that your muscles have been habituated to a certain adaptation pattern and that perhaps the adaptation process might be sped along because you have already gone through it, that’s not traditionally, in my opinion, how the term muscle memory should be or is used correctly.
What muscle memory is, any movement requires your muscle to be recruited and that requires a recruitment pattern. A recruitment pattern can be different based on which muscles are recruited and the signal given to the muscles. That can be differed by one, the amplitude or strength of the signal or two, the duration of that signal and three, the frequency of each impulse that’s given to it. This has to do with motor learning, when you learn to walk, that is a certain recruitment pattern; a certain amount of coordination. Inter and intra muscle coordination is involved in learning how to walk. You can learn how to jog, skip, leap make a dunk, reverse dunk, all of these skills and we call this muscle memory, when it is an automatic process.
When you see boxers training they are often going through slow motions training a certain neuro-pattern so that the action is automatic when they are in the ring. Their muscles and their body is trained automatically, it has a memory (so to speak) to do the right patterns, to throw a punch a certain way, to keep their guard up a certain way.
The same thing I believe is true with a vertical jump, just as walking is different than jogging and jogging is different than sprinting; because they are in a different recruitment pattern meaning that things are recruited at different amplitudes, frequencies, durations, the inter and intra muscle coordination is different. Just as a low jump and what I call a maximum vertical jump, are going to be 2 different skills. Your highest jump is a different skill than a lower jump. What you want to learn and train as far as muscle memory is your maximum vertical jump.
Another example is throwing a baseball. You can throw a baseball very hard with your strong or dominate hand. Why is that? It is because you have established a groove, a strong muscle memory, and you have established that skill from one hand. If you are able to train your off hand as often as you train your other hand, soon you would be able to use the strength you had much more efficiently because of that skill you established… and this is what muscle memory is.
While your muscles don’t remember how strong you were in the past, what they will do is remember a certain pattern and because you are familiar with that pattern you body is able to send a better more efficient neuron impulse and you are able to coordinate your body more efficiently in order to use the strength you already have.
How does this apply to your training? In your training you want to establish muscle memory or a maximal vertical leap. Train often as possible even daily because this is something your body needs to think of as second nature. Your sports specific leaps whether it is volleyball, soccer or basketball whatever that muscle pattern is, it needs to be very engrained and it needs to be maintained. If you don’t have those muscle patterns already you need to establish them, and if you do have them, you need to deepen and maintain them so that you can get the best performance possible out of those specific movements. This is muscle memory 101 and what it is and what it isn’t and how to apply it to your training.
Muscle memory, what it is and what it isn’t. I have heard a lot of people use the term muscle memory in several different ways. I think it is important to know what muscle memory is and how you can apply it to your training.
What some people do say, “I’m going to start training again, I’m not as strong as I used to be but my muscles, they remember how strong I was so I will get stronger really quick, as soon as my muscles remember that”. While you could make a case that your muscles have been habituated to a certain adaptation pattern and that perhaps the adaptation process might be sped along because you have already gone through it, that’s not traditionally, in my opinion, how the term muscle memory should be or is used correctly.
What muscle memory is, any movement requires your muscle to be recruited and that requires a recruitment pattern. A recruitment pattern can be different based on which muscles are recruited and the signal given to the muscles. That can be differed by one, the amplitude or strength of the signal or two, the duration of that signal and three, the frequency of each impulse that’s given to it. This has to do with motor learning, when you learn to walk, that is a certain recruitment pattern; a certain amount of coordination. Inter and intra muscle coordination is involved in learning how to walk. You can learn how to jog, skip, leap make a dunk, reverse dunk, all of these skills and we call this muscle memory, when it is an automatic process.
When you see boxers training they are often going through slow motions training a certain neuro-pattern so that the action is automatic when they are in the ring. Their muscles and their body is trained automatically, it has a memory (so to speak) to do the right patterns, to throw a punch a certain way, to keep their guard up a certain way.
The same thing I believe is true with a vertical jump, just as walking is different than jogging and jogging is different than sprinting; because they are in a different recruitment pattern meaning that things are recruited at different amplitudes, frequencies, durations, the inter and intra muscle coordination is different. Just as a low jump and what I call a maximum vertical jump, are going to be 2 different skills. Your highest jump is a different skill than a lower jump. What you want to learn and train as far as muscle memory is your maximum vertical jump.
Another example is throwing a baseball. You can throw a baseball very hard with your strong or dominate hand. Why is that? It is because you have established a groove, a strong muscle memory, and you have established that skill from one hand. If you are able to train your off hand as often as you train your other hand, soon you would be able to use the strength you had much more efficiently because of that skill you established… and this is what muscle memory is.
While your muscles don’t remember how strong you were in the past, what they will do is remember a certain pattern and because you are familiar with that pattern you body is able to send a better more efficient neuron impulse and you are able to coordinate your body more efficiently in order to use the strength you already have.
How does this apply to your training? In your training you want to establish muscle memory or a maximal vertical leap. Train often as possible even daily because this is something your body needs to think of as second nature. Your sports specific leaps whether it is volleyball, soccer or basketball whatever that muscle pattern is, it needs to be very engrained and it needs to be maintained. If you don’t have those muscle patterns already you need to establish them, and if you do have them, you need to deepen and maintain them so that you can get the best performance possible out of those specific movements. This is muscle memory 101 and what it is and what it isn’t and how to apply it to your training.
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