Have you ever started working out for a month and then stopped working out for like three months because of being busy? When I was in high school and college I used to work out faithfully 3-5 times a week. After I graduated from college I started to work out a little less, more like three days a week. Once I got married I started working out more like 2-3 times a week. When my wife and I had our first child, I started exercising as I had time (which was not much). If some of you are in my same boat, it does not take long for our muscles to decrease in size and strength. The good news is that there is new research showing that even though a person stops training, they still exhibit the same amount of muscle memory (myonuclei).
Without getting too nerdy, I’m going to try to explain the concept of myonuclei. Every muscle is composed of multiple muscle fibers, which are composed of multiple nuclei to keep it simple. Think of a nucleus as the heart of every cell, it is basically the control center of the muscle. As we train our bodies (especially resistance training) there is an increase in muscle fibers, as well as an increase in myonuclei. Basically, the more myonuclei we have the stronger those muscles will become. So this research is showing that as we stop our training (for whatever reason) even though our muscle fibers decrease in strength and size, the amount of myonuclei we have stays the same for up to 1 1/2 to 2 years after our last workout. That means that for those individuals that have stopped training, once they start training again they will gain their max strength back quicker than before. So if it took a person 4 months to bench press 225 pounds and then they stopped for two months; when they start up again maybe it would only take them 1 1/2 months to get back to that 225 pound bench press.
So you may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with God? The concept of myonuclei has everything to do with God, it is oozing with the Glory of the Father. I’ve written about this in the past, but the complexity of the human body shows me how much detail God put into His creation. The crazy thing is that it only took Him one day to create Adam. I just recently learned of this new research behind muscle memory. As I further studied this subject, I began to reflect on my faith and how it correlates to the human body. There are many seasons when I feel like I am closer to the Lord, because I am getting fed in the Word or am continually in prayer with the Lord. There are also seasons when I feel like I am not as close, because I am not in the Word as much. I feel like my faith is not as strong because I am not in relationship with the Father as much. My strength begins to decrease as I continually avoid making time for the Lord. Usually my busyness includes making plans with friends, watching television, playing games on my phone, and the list goes on.
Luckily our Father has given us grace. This grace that God has given us comes from his immeasurable love that He has for each one of us. Even as our faith begins to decrease, the Lord does not leave us alone. Many times the Holy Spirit will begin to nudge my spirit. He is saying to me “Aaron I really miss you” come talk to the Father. As I begin to get back into the Word and get back into prayer my strength comes back quicker than before, similar to the concept of myonuclei. But the best part about our faith compared to muscle memory is that no matter how long we go away or how off the deep end we go, God is still going to be there for us. There is nothing we can do that God would turn his face away from us. In scripture Hebrews 13:5 reads "Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you". We started a series at church last week about different seasons in our lives. There will be good seasons, great seasons, bad seasons, and maybe even devastating seasons. Hebrews 13 is such great news because we do not have to travel through these seasons alone. The Father will be right there with us including; smiling with us during the good seasons or holding us during those rough seasons.
So just remember when you are working out, if you skip a few days (or weeks) it is okay. You may not start where you left off, but you will get back to where you were a little sooner than before. The goal is never to skip a day, to take any shortcuts, to sin in life. The reality is that we will fall short every single time, but never forget what you have learned about the Father. Use your muscle memory when you are struggling with your past sins, or about to speak to somebody else about the Lord. Remember that scripture that you have read over 100 times, so that it will help you speak to others about the Lord. Use all those personal experiences you had in your alone time with God to keep your faith strong, so that when a close friend or family member that passes away unexpectedly, you do not question whether God still loves you. Use that muscle memory when your feel like your Faith has hit rock bottom, so that you remember how much joy you had just a season ago. Use that as motivation to get back into relationship with Him. It is never too late to ask forgiveness, and to just cling on to Jesus. Myonuclei, such a complex concept that God created, but it so awesome to think about. God you are an amazing creator!!
Peace and God Bless!!
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