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My understanding is that strength comes back quicker. This enables mass to come back quicker, but the causation is reversed. A lot of strength is neuromuscula

by jghn 2y ago

My understanding is that *strength* comes back quicker. This enables mass to come back quicker, but the causation is reversed. A lot of strength is neuromuscular control over muscle, not muscle mass itself. So it doesn't take as long for the relevant brain neurons to remember how to more efficiently recruit the muscle mass that's there. This is a similar effect to how one sees all the time a leaner, wiry person be stronger than a more muscular, pumped person.

krab 2y ago
Oh, that sounds right. I have quite lean arms and I had a few experiences when people (including me) were surprised that I was stronger than someone more muscular. The downside is that it's much easier for me to overstrain my muscles. My muscles can really hurt without much effort if I lift weights and I'm not focused on preventing that.
HPsquared 2y ago
Strength isn't just the muscles themselves though; it's also tendons, ligaments, bone density. These take time to gain and lose, and generally (as I understand it) respond slower than the muscles themselves.
- jghn 2y ago
  Yes, all of those have slower responses. It's part of why people who rely on things like anabolic steroids tend to have a lot of connective tissue injuries: they're getting stronger at an artificial rate and exceeds the ability for the connective tissue to keep up.
  - kridsdale3 2y ago
    Especially with something like Trenblone. The muscles blow up, yes, but the psychological feeling of energy and power is (literally) insane and leads to cocaine-addict-like overconfidence. It's common on the forums for novice tren users to damage their tendons because they feel like they can throw up 50 more pounds than their weakest parts can really handle.
lukas099 2y ago
Muscle mass comes back quicker too, independently of strength. See this forum post and the attached paper. https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/muscle-memory-revisted/15914 https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/muscle-memory-revisted/1...
globular-toast 2y ago
I used to go to the gym regularly. I definitely remember how hard it was to do pull ups and dips when completely untrained. I had to start with negatives. It seemed impossible at first. Now I haven't been to the gym for almost a year but still occasionally do some bodyweight exercises. I can still knock out 10 pull ups, 40 press ups, dips etc. all from a dead stop. It's amazing really. I have less muscle than a lot of people now, but I seem so much stronger still.

My understanding is that *strength* comes back quicker. This enables mass to come back quicker, but the causation is reversed. A lot of strength is neuromuscula

by jghn 2y ago

krab 2y ago

Oh, that sounds right. I have quite lean arms and I had a few experiences when people (including me) were surprised that I was stronger than someone more muscular. The downside is that it's much easier for me to overstrain my muscles. My muscles can really hurt without much effort if I lift weights and I'm not focused on preventing that.

HPsquared 2y ago

Strength isn't just the muscles themselves though; it's also tendons, ligaments, bone density. These take time to gain and lose, and generally (as I understand it) respond slower than the muscles themselves.

jghn 2y ago
Yes, all of those have slower responses. It's part of why people who rely on things like anabolic steroids tend to have a lot of connective tissue injuries: they're getting stronger at an artificial rate and exceeds the ability for the connective tissue to keep up.
- kridsdale3 2y ago
  Especially with something like Trenblone. The muscles blow up, yes, but the psychological feeling of energy and power is (literally) insane and leads to cocaine-addict-like overconfidence. It's common on the forums for novice tren users to damage their tendons because they feel like they can throw up 50 more pounds than their weakest parts can really handle.

lukas099 2y ago

Muscle mass comes back quicker too, independently of strength. See this forum post and the attached paper. https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/muscle-memory-revisted/15914 https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/muscle-memory-revisted/1...

globular-toast 2y ago

I used to go to the gym regularly. I definitely remember how hard it was to do pull ups and dips when completely untrained. I had to start with negatives. It seemed impossible at first. Now I haven't been to the gym for almost a year but still occasionally do some bodyweight exercises. I can still knock out 10 pull ups, 40 press ups, dips etc. all from a dead stop. It's amazing really. I have less muscle than a lot of people now, but I seem so much stronger still.