Winning without Winning!
On Day 28, there is a “Winning without Winning” section that describes the longevity results of being an athlete throughout high school. And no matter where you end up on the list above, the longevity result is the same win for all.
“I feel strong when I feel strong” starts at the cellular level and progresses through a 5-step muscle-use process.
AMPK enzymes → Satellite Cells → Mitochondria → ATP Energy→ Myonuclei
According to Kristian Gundersen's study, “Muscle Memory and a New Cellular Model for Muscle Atrophy and Hypertrophy” (Journal of Experimental Biology), muscle cell memory refers to the number of myonuclei that muscle cells produce and retain for use throughout your life. The phrase “use it or lose it” is a myth! Once you create it (myonuclei), it becomes a near-permanent fixture within your muscle cells! While you may lose muscle size and strength, you lose the muscle memory for the amount of myonuclei you have gained during high school athletics at a much slower rate (and even slower if you maintain or restart exercise habits). This true form of muscle memory can delay the onset and severity of age-related muscle wasting well into your 80s, 90s, and beyond.
First place or last place… winning is winning!
The myth of "Use It or Lose It."
Real muscle memory has nothing to do with the phrase "it's just like riding a bike.” While the idea of "muscle memory" linked to “riding a bike” is deeply embedded in your athletic brain’s motor neurons, actual muscle memory relates to the processes inside your muscle cells that develop your myonuclei—and more myonuclei, and even more myonuclei—through athletic training (and riding a bike).
While athletic training feels like… one step forward and one step backward, then another step forward and another step backward, finally it’s two steps forward and only one step backward. This ongoing process of moving back and forth continues endlessly… And here’s the good news: For every two steps forward, you never lose that extra step gained. Whether you're in first place or last place, you will always win without winning.
Puberty-Adolescence-Adulthood
Your myonuclei developmental window fully opens at puberty…
And it closes at the end of adolescence!
Puberty is the process of adult maturation initiated by hormonal changes in the body and brain for anabolic purposes… “And there is more going on than meets the eye.”
Your primary window for developing additional myonuclei opens at puberty and closes by the end of adolescence. According to Dr. Lawrence Schwartz's research, “Skeletal Muscles do not Undergo Apoptosis during Atrophy or Programmed Cell Death, Revisiting the Myonuclear Domain Hypothesis” (Journal of Muscle Physiology)...
“Muscle growth involves the addition of new myonuclei from stem cells to accommodate larger muscle cells through the AMPK enzyme.”
As you increase your physical training, your AMPK enzymes and satellite cells fuse to create hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of new myonuclei. Although it was once believed that muscle was lost when not in use, this has never been true. (Muscle atrophy refers to the thinning of muscle tissue, not the loss of muscle components such as myonuclei.)
Dr. Schwartz explains that the thousands of new myonuclei enter a “resting” phase only when muscle activity slows or stops. Because this “resting” phase lasts longer, muscle cells shrink due to reduced mitochondrial activity. However, once the need for muscle activity returns, the thousands of myonuclei “wake up” to reactivate mitochondrial activity and restore muscle strength to previous levels.
Anabolic maturation promotes lifelong metabolic potential.
You just have to reuse that potential.
Whether you win or lose, as you continue physical training, your body increases the number of myonuclei, which can reach into the thousands. However, as well-trained individuals transition into adulthood, their priorities may shift toward education, career, family, and other pursuits. But what doesn’t change is the muscle memory for the number of myonuclei developed during the teenage maturation years.
According to Dr. Ken Saladin, a professor and textbook author in Microscopic Anatomy, the average non-athletic muscle cell contains 700 to 900 myonuclei. However, a well-trained athlete with a high rate of cellular fusion may have more than 20,000 myonuclei.
Meaning???
By energizing your muscle cells and cellular fusion, improved muscle memory will boost your genetic expression, enabling you to maintain your new normal and set personal records. Then, as you continue with more athletic training, you increase your genetic expression to even higher levels of new norms.
Your personal best changes your DNA for the better, and then better again!
As you age, muscle cells and cognitive skills peak between 25-33. But satellite cells and AMPK enzymes decline over time, dropping below 1% annually by your late 30s. Meanwhile, other intelligences improve.
Fluid Intelligence vs. Crystallized Intelligence
Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve new problems and adapt to new situations without prior experience. This intuitive form of working memory peaks in the late 20s or mid-30s and then declines gradually thereafter.
Crystallized intelligence is the use of accumulated knowledge that provides quick solutions, based on years of experience, rather than problem-solving. This type of intelligence remains stable well into your 60s and 70s. Older adults often perform better on tasks due to “experience intelligence.”
As your muscle cells gradually decline, your analytical, emotional, and athletic brains continue to develop. Because learning and skill acquisition outpace the decline of muscle cells, your athletic ability will continue to improve, thanks to better memory and more experience. This leads us to… Future You vs. Teenage You, as longevity begins with your teenage self.
1,000 myonuclei vs. 20,000 myonuclei
According to the study “Myonuclei are Lost with Aging and Atrophy” (Journal of Physiology), myonuclei decrease by 2%-10% per year in individuals aged 60-70. However, the impact of this decline depends on the final number of myonuclei at maturity. At a rate of…
2% if you develop and maintain a physical lifestyle or 10% if you don’t!
Warning: If you’re a teenager, read the next part slowly and thoroughly understand its message about longevity. If you’re an adult with little or no athletic background, please skip to the end because you might not want to read the next section.
1,000 myonuclei (bad news)
The difference between 2% “good news” and 10% “bad news” also determines the age at which decline begins. For example, an individual with a myonuclei count of 1,000 may start to decline at age 65, with a 10% annual decline. This means that by age 75, their higher rate of decrease will reduce their myonuclei from 1,000 to fewer than 400. Unfortunately, this reduced rate aligns with the life expectancy of this population, confirmed by hundreds of studies, including “Aging-Related Loss of Muscle Mass and Function” (Journal of Psychological Review).
20,000 myonuclei (good news)
Instead of beginning to decline at 65, the decline may start at 72 or later, at a slower rate of about 2-3%. By age 82, their myonuclei count will decrease from 20,000 to just under 15,000. Unsurprisingly, the good news is that this “reduced” rate matches the life expectancy of this population, as confirmed by hundreds of studies, including “Aging-Related Loss of Muscle Mass and Function” (Journal of Psychological Review).
Who do you want to be?
A 75-year-old with 400 myonuclei?
Or, an 82-year-old with 15,000 myonuclei?
If you're a teenage athlete reading this, take a moment to let your Future You appreciate what you're doing today!
The good news keeps coming. Multiple studies show that high muscle mass (myonuclei and mitochondria) is linked to the lowest risk of dementia and cognitive decline. And let’s not forget that resistance training against gravity is your best tool for preventing future falls.
Winning without winning for the rest of your life!
While you may never win a temporary moment in your athletic pursuits,
you will win (and retain) “near” permanent amounts of myonuclei.