Muscle Memory Bill Slonaker

Muscle Memory EDAC635 Bill Slonaker People learn in many ways. As educators, it is important for us to recognize differences in learning styles in order to assist our learners. We view the mind as the primary learning mechanism. How can it not be? It is the seat of learning and intelligence, after all. Individual minds learn best by individual routes. For instance, some learn facts best by hearing, others by writing and still others by turning the facts into a song or a chant. The body also plays an important role in learning. Obviously how the body ‘feels’ is an important factor of learning. We do not learn well if we are sick and focusing on a runny nose or headache. Muscles also play an important role in how we learn, not only whether they are tense or fatigued (body issues), but by gaining a memories of their own. When muscle memory is mentioned, my first thoughts are of athletics. Athletes generally train over a long period of time to get their muscles to complete the desired actions as an automatic, thoughtless response. It would a very difficult process to dunk a basketball if the player had to focus on the biomechanics of the act. Likewise, a tap dancer would have quite a difficult time getting anything done if he had to concentrate on each individual tap of the heal or toe. Musicians, equestrians, athletes, dancers, and most humans for that matter, rely on my primary impression of muscle memory in completing daily tasks. People do not learn to dunk a basketball by watching a video of how it is done. You can watch the video repeatedly, but should not expect be able to master the skill simply by watching it be done. Basketball is a good example for muscle memory. As a player looks at the floor trying to decide to pass, shoot or move up the court, he must be dribbling the ball as well. Because of ‘muscle memory’, the player can dribble the ball without focusing on it, freeing his mind to read a situation and do several calculations instead. Kinaesthetic learning is learning by doing or motion learning. We learn how to walk by ‘doing’. We learn to swing a hammer without smashing a digit by ‘doing’. Some people really can learn to build a fire by reading about it, but kinaesthetic learners would have a lot of difficulty as their method of learning is by doing. In our text, we are told that adult education literature on physical learning is sorely lacking (MacKeracher, 2004). By adopting the findings and concepts of the literature that is out there, we can often apply physical learning to the classroom environment. Literature on muscle memory covers many aspects; everything from practicing a movement slowly in order gain mastery of the movement when completed quickly to muscles gaining movement information solely from genes (in utero muscle development/memory). Christopher Jacoby defines muscle memory as “the ability of our mind to capture a particular activity or movement” (Jacoby, 2015). According to him, muscles learn certain actions and are able to replicate the movements even decades after having last used that skill set. Examples he gave were bike riding, driving, and walking. To some degree, I agree with his examples, but not completely. He says that several years can pass without using that particular skill and not have to think about it. My experience is that getting back on a bicycle after several years requires one to concentrate, even slightly, about staying upright and getting back into the swing, thus disputing it to be a muscle memory issue. On the other hand, once reacquainted with the contraption, it is an effortless endeavor. An interesting article I read compared several studies spanning over thirty years on worms (nematodes). Included in the findings are that tapeworm muscles continue their sinusoidal wave patterns when both the head and tail sections are detached (Jorgensen, 2011). The important thing is that the muscles continued their normal movement as opposed to involuntary jerky motions resulting from electrical impulses. The implication is that the muscles of tapeworms do not require a brain or intact nervous system to work in their normal fashion. A big benefit of muscle memory is that people who have been physically fit in their past 1) are better able to again be fit, 2) should be less frail as they age (Saey, Muscles Remember Their Strength, 2010). Study findings are that the number of nuclei increase as the muscle works in a repetitive fashion. Even if the muscle becomes detached and withers, the number of nuclei remains the same (Saey, Muscles Can Remember Past Glory, 2010). The DNA template of the muscle actually changed in the workout. In practical terms, following a devastating injury a muscle which is well developed has the capacity to return to its well-developed state. The muscle actually gained memory as it can return to its optimum state not the state is was at birth, for lack of a better comparison. By following this concept, we can reasonably argue that muscles do in fact have memory of their own. They have the ability to repeat, independently, a learned action/skill. This is how we are able to walk, maintain our balance, breathe, etc. How else can this knowledge be applied? Where else in our every-day lives can we find examples of muscle memory? The illustration of muscle memory in social roles was the one that surprised me the most. I had not really given it much thought. The idea is very sound looking at it through personal experience. Richard Shusterman brings to light that some professions require a certain authoritative attitude and carriage. He mentions police officers, judges, and drill sergeants success being partially dependent on the way they carry themselves (Shusterman, 2011). Even if they carry themselves, shall we say ‘with less purpose’ in their off time, part of their ‘dress’ is actually their comportment. Where muscle memory comes in to play is that their comportment changes automatically when entering the courtroom, squad room or exercise yard. As I reflected on Shusterman’s observation, I was able to see that this also encompasses interpersonal relationships. In our personal lives we can all relate to someone who affects the way we carry ourselves. My example will use someone who causes your muscles to tense in a fight or flight response. That one person who makes your blood boil for whatever reason. We automatically walk more erect and with more purpose. Our muscles bunch, ready for a fight. We automatically look for weak points, exit routes and scan the lay of the land. Our muscles become tense because of muscle memory. Picture that special someone in your mind, replay past encounters with them, and then check your neck muscles. Are they tense? Could it be they are tense because they remember what to do around this person? Shusterman tells the story of a judge who unknowingly brought his courtroom home with him (Shusterman, 2011). After leaving the court room he would go straight home for dinner where he would treat his family as if they were court officers or defendants. He spoke to them in an authoritative manner during the course of the meal and held himself quite apart from them. He did not realize he was doing this until they brought it to his attention. In an attempt to rectify matters, he changed his after work routine, took a different rout home and took time to decompress before having dinner with the family. He had to take off the mantle of authority, part of which was the way he carried himself. Musician Maxim Rysanov says that he works very hard to develop muscle memory as it enhances his performances and keeps him from worrying so much while preforming (Rysanov, 2014). He states that he believes fifty percent of the musical intonation is a result of muscle memory, as muscle memory actually delays fatigue for him. He tries to build into his muscle memory places for his muscles to automatically relax, again giving increased longevity. World-class tennis pro Joe Dinoffer answers questions about muscle memory in a manner anyone can understand. He says memory in muscles is similar to programming in a computer, and that once the muscles learn a task they do not really forget. His common sense example is that you sit in a chair and cross your arms. Notice how comfortable you are in that position. It feels natural. Now uncross your arms and try to cross them in the opposite direction. Once you think about the biomechanics of doing it the opposite way, chances are you feel very awkward in this position. This is a result of neuro pathways for that particular skill being formed. The muscles are not comfortable in that stance because that is not how they learned it; it is not how they were programmed. (Dioffer, 2010) In contrast to Dioffer, Nancy Armour wrote an article on gymnastics in which she says “It takes months of repetitions to make those skills look effortless yet only a few weeks for that muscle memory to be erased” (Armour, 2015). If we look at the evidence gathered thus far, that statement cannot be proven. Instead, it is more plausible that the gymnast’s body has changed in some manner by growth or additional weight, and therefore doesn’t not respond in exactly the same manner as before. Lisa Withers is an associate professor of piano at Emory & Henry College. She tells her students there are two types of memory; conscious and unconscious. Unconscious memory is her term for muscle memory, “the memorization of certain physical gestures through repetition” (Music Teachers National Association, 2014). That is another great descriptor for my interpretation of muscle memory. Proving Withers’ statement regarding unconscious memory, wearable technology has proven the ability to teach muscle memory while the mind is occupied with other tasks. Tad Stamer developed a computerized glove, on the top of each finger being small vibrating motors. Wearing the glove for a couple of hours daily, Ariel Bleicher “acquired sufficient muscle memory to play sixty-one notes of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” with hardly any effort” (Schneider, 2014). Withers believes that muscle memory is critical to mastering difficult pieces, and interestingly she believes it is also critical to ‘creating instincts’ (Music Teachers National Association, 2014). This belief in echoed many times in articles by music professionals regarding muscle memory. The creative instincts refer to improvisation, and that improv is able to occur because the muscles have memorized the basic movements necessary to perform successfully, allowing the mind to meander and compose on the spot or play from the heart. James Dean reviewed and transcribed performance footage of jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Dean’s points of interest were the improvised solos. He concluded that because Metheny has mastered all of the mechanical movements required to seamlessly play the guitar, his mind is freed to construct improvisations (Dean, 2014). Just look at the progression of ideas regarding muscle memory in this paper thus far. We have gone from tapeworms muscles continuing in a normal manner with no connection to brain or nervous system to muscle memory being the seat of a creative force! Amazing stuff. The remaining question is how this knowledge can be translated to the classroom. For one, anyone who is teaching labs can rest assured that repetition is indeed a reliable method of teaching/learning. The learner will gain skill by physically repeating the task as shown by the computerized glove. In non-lab class, body posture alone can signal the brain that it is time to commence an activity, which can be reading, discussing, etc. This was evidenced in both social and performance situations. Muscle position can make you ready for other things, and help you be ready to learn. Bibliography Armour, N. (2015, July 27). Seeking Repeat, Douglas Leaps Back Into Sport. USA Today. Baxmann, I. (2009). At the Boundaries of the Archive: Movement, Rhythm, and Muscle Memory. A Report on the Tanzarchiv Leipzig. Dance Chronicle, 32(1), pp. 127-135. doi:10.1080/01472520802690333 Dean, J. (2014, April). Pat Metheny's Finger Routes: The Role of Muscle Memory in Guitar Improvisation. Jazz Perspectives, 8(1), pp. 45-71. Dioffer, J. (2010, August). Do Muscles Have Memory? Tennis Life, pp. 34-35. Retrieved September 22, 2015, from http://www.tennislife.com Jacoby, C. (2015). What Is Muscle Memory? Retrieved September 22, 2015, from Healthguidance.org: http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/14351/1/ Jorgensen, Q. L. (2011, February 15). Muscle Memory. The Journal of Physiology, pp. 775-776. MacKeracher, D. (2004). Making Sense of Adult Learning (Second ed.). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press. Music Teachers National Association. (2014, February/March). This & That. America Music Teacher, 63(4), pp. 51-53. Rysanov, M. (2014, January). Practice Dairy. Strad, 124(1485), p. 19. Saey, T. H. (2010, September 11). Muscles Can Remember Past Glory. Science News, 178(6), p. 15. Retrieved September 21, 2015, from http://wwwjstor.org/stable/27862663 Saey, T. H. (2010, August 17). Muscles Remember Their Strength. Retrieved September 22, 2015, from Discovery News: http://news.discovery.com/humans/genetics/muscles-memory-strength.htm Schneider, D. (2014, September). Muscle-Memory Programmer Resources - Hands On). IEEE Spectrum, 51(9), pp. 23-25. Shusterman, R. (2011). Muscle Memory and the Somaestheric Pathologies of Everday Life. Human Movement, 12(1), pp. 4-15.