After a break from strength training, muscle memory may help you bounce back

After a break from strength training, muscle memory may help you bounce back toggle caption EyeEm Mobile GmbH/iStockphoto/Getty Images If you've let your workout routine slide, the first time back in the gym can be a humbling experience. Changes deep inside our thread-like muscle cells may also explain why previously trained muscles grow back more quickly the second time around. Sponsor Message "It's like a cellular memory in your muscles that remembers your past — I'd love to use the word — glory," says Kristoffer Toldnes Cumming, an exercise physiologist at Østfold University College in Norway. "It's still a bit like a black box," says Toldnes Cumming, whose lab also published on muscle memory.