Is there such a thing as muscle memory for cardio ?

[Gladius]

Strictly based on my own experience I’m inclined to say yes actually. Not sure about the body mechanics involved though.

I was thinking maybe it’s more to do with strength endurance and conditioning being “sticky” - most cardio based activity also tends to require strength endurance plus technique for the activity you’re doing. But based on subjective feeling, it has seemed easier to restart training every time even when I’ve shifted to new activities (I’ve done a bit of everything - jogging, swimming, boxing etc - and apart from the cardio aspect I don’t know if the carryover is that big?)

Not sure if that’s literally your lungs or blood vessels actually “remembering” what to do, but the body seems to toughen up in one way or another.

 

[LockdownTurtle]

I'd guess the "muscle memory" comes from the heart and diaphragm having been previously built up and not losing all their previous conditioning.

But IMO as a former track and distance runner who's been running for 30+ years, the bigger factor is people have vastly differing baselines for "untrained" depending on the activity. Body mechanics and efficiency vary hugely among individuals even adjusting for weight. My best 2-mile time was something like 11:20 which is good but not elite. College track guys can do sub 10. My buddy who was a national level swimmer could only manage 13 min while in shape and in season.

I could get off the couch after not running for 6 months and do an 8 min mile in my sleep, while my buddy with the same height and weight might struggle to do it in 10 min. But an elite runner would do a 5:30 mile easy and might take a month to get back down to <5 race pace.

Great post

Agree with the baseline and history of training and genetics