Anupam- The Dreamer

The concept of “muscle memory”

Image source: Agilefingers.com

It is a very old adage that “Practice makes a (wo)man perfect”. On the face of it, it seems pretty obvious, isn’t it? But, in reality, it is not as easy as it seems! There is a whole gamut of neuroscience that is operating in the background. Be it for any skill, ranging from easy tasks such as learning to walk by a toddler, balance a bicycle in young age, to learning more complex skills like sports and technical expertise in a particular domain. Everything requires continuous and rigorous practise to acquire mastery over that thing.

I remember when I was learning to ride a motorbike when I was in 10^th class, it seemed very tedious task at first. Learning basic things like what is the function of an accelerator, brake, clutch, gear etc. is very easy. But, it is equally hard to learn to ride a bike perfectly, with both your hands and both your legs in complete coordination with your brain, your eyes and your ears. And it takes time to develop “muscle memory”, to reach a stage when you can ride it sub-consciously. At first, I had to think how to release the clutch and at the same time to accelerate bit-by-bit, so that the bike’s engine doesn’t get turned off with a jerk. Once, in the beginner stage, I released the clutch suddenly while engaging the 1^st gear, and the bike’s front tyre lifted off the ground. Man, that was scary! At the same time, you have to be deft at shifting gears without experiencing jerks in the bike. And all four limbs have to work in perfect coordination for a smooth ride, otherwise you cannot be a perfect rider. The neuroscience behind it is very complex. The eyes and ears receive the feedback from the surroundings, which gets transmitted to the brain in real time. The brain then gives signals to the motor neurons, which trigger movement in each limb. Then, the limb performs the required function.

When you starting learning a new skill like bike riding, there is a time lag between the above mentioned neuro-transmission process. Every step has to be taken consciously, the brain takes time to process the environmental feedback, then the body takes time to react to the brain signals. The movement here has to be fully conscious. And if there is a mistake anywhere at any step, the brain goes into the “panic” mode, which further deteriorates the quality of the movement required from the body. It requires days and months of practising the same skill over and over again, till the sequence gets imprinted in your sub-conscious brain. After that, it is a smooth ride. Then, you don’t need to think about riding the bike. Every movement will happen on its own. You will put the key, start the bike, immediately put on the first gear, and be ready to take off without any hiccup. Even if you are thinking about something else, the effectiveness of bike ride will not get affected. And if you suddenly encounter a pothole, all the limbs will act on their own to slow down the bike smoothly. Because now, you have developed what is called the “muscle memory”, where the memory is stored in the brain about specific muscle movements.

Similar is the case with learning skills like shooting, swimming, sports, playing a musical instrument, etc. The armed forces are given arms training, where they practise everything over and over again, until it registers in the muscle memory, so that they can act swiftly and efficiently even in panic mode of war-like situations. In swimming also, you have to take every step very consciously at first, until you master it, otherwise you can risk drowning. Similar thing goes with other skills.

There are a complexity of factors which determine how much time you take to develop muscle memory like complexity of the task, the frequency with which you do it, and your experience. But, as hard as it is to gain muscle memory, it is also as easy as to forget some skills, if you reduce the frequency to practice it or you haven’t gained much experience in it. For example, you will not forget to ride bicycle or a ride easily, as you have gained a vast amount of experience in that. But, if you have learned swimming for a few days in your childhood and you did not master it, it is very likely that if you step into a pool in later years, you will able be able to swim. Therefore, the old adage can’t be more true as it emphasizes on practising the skill until it registers in your muscle memory. And even then, you need to refresh your memory every now and then, because memory you see is like a running a marathon. If you stop putting effort, not only you will stop or lose track, but at the same time, it will be very difficult for you to pick up again and continue.

If you reached this far will all this neuroscience BS, it certainly means that you are trying to learn some new skill. All the best in your endeavours. I hope you develop muscle memory in that as early as possible 🙂