
Human Skeletal Muscle Possesses an Epigenetic Memory of Hypertrophy (2018) - havella
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-20287-3
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lamchob
Does this mean, that the use of anabolic steroids to build muscle at one point
in time can lead to better performance years after usage? For example, a young
athlete uses it in his late teens/early twenties to gain muscle and then lays
off the drug for a while. Then he returns to competitive sports, reaping the
benefits of the formerly enhanced hypertrophy without any means to test
against it?

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erichocean
> _Does this mean, that the use of anabolic steroids to build muscle at one
> point in time can lead to better performance years after usage?_

Yes, and it's very well known too. You don't need to take steroids for very
long to increase your muscle mass, then you go off them and stay off them for
a few months and maintain it. You can then repeat multiple times if you
need/want to. I've been told that it's fairly safe when done this way, with
appropriate monitoring, etc.

~~~
oceanghost
You are correct, but there is more to it than that. At one time I was a
serious lifter-- and I did half a dozen cycles. Even though I haven't worked
out seriously in 3 or 4 years (illness, childcare, divorce) my body shape is
permanently altered, as are my overall strength levels.

So, when I was entertaining trying to be a bodybuilder, I had two problem
areas. Chest and arms. Also, I should mention that my trainer at the time was
an IFBB judge, and has his pro card. I really, really dived into this.

My chest got big from gear and stayed that way, and I kept most of my
strength, even when I don't work out.

The reason I can't be a bodybuilder is-- I can't get my biceps to grow, even
on the most aggressive steroids they grow mildly and shrink back to crap the
moment I'm not killing myself.

My point is, bodies are weird. They're an indignity frankly. Anecdotally, I
have evidence your supposition is correct and incorrect. It's mostly down to
genetics.

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L_226
I have found this with myself - in uni ~7 years ago I was pretty into
powerlifting (around 120kg squat, 120kg bench, 170kg deadlift at 184cm/81kg).
Now as I go through on and off periods of training due to life etc. I find
that it is relatively quick and easy for me to get back into decent shape.
Like 2 weeks of training after even months of eating poorly and drinking too
much is enough to get good muscle definition back and my strength goes back to
probably 80% of my youthful peak. Obviously this is anecdata, YMMV.

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nnq
...and the opposite curse applies to people who had fully couch-potato
sedentary lifestyles in youth and want to work themselves into shape in their
30s ...it sucks :| Realizing that you might need to put 12+ months of
continuous boring excruciating exercise to get what others can get with 1-2
moths of training only.

Wish there was a pill to solve this for us (phisically-)lazy ones...

~~~
blunte
Nope, it’s not like you think.

You can start weight lifting, following a “Russian strength” program (just
three exercises, heavier weight, small sets of 3-5 reps), and the experience
noticeable changes within 4 weeks. And I’m not talking about a lot of time at
the gym... perhaps 2-3 hours total of exercise per week.

Not only will you get strong, you will start burning more calories when you’re
not even moving. Plus, you’ll feel more energy and more drive/discipline to
eat better and go back to the gym. In fact, a common problem is wanting to go
to the gym too often. (The older you get, the more recovery time needed
between workouts... more workouts can actually be detrimental.).

~~~
barry-cotter
> And I’m not talking about a lot of time at the gym... perhaps 2-3 hours
> total of exercise per week.

And if you only have time to go to the gym once a week you can make visible
progress in that much time. Three sets of five reps of squat, bench and
deadlift is doable in 50 minutes and if you do it consistently once a week
you’ll see steady progress for most of a year.

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rofo1
I've told several people the same thing, based on my experience and the
experience of some friends of mine.

I absolutely believe this is true.

One thing that influence this is that the second (third, fourth) time that you
are doing it, you are better at it and know exactly what to do. So, you get
into shape faster.

Also this:

"Epidemiological studies in human ageing cohorts also suggest that low birth
weight and gestational malnutrition are strongly associated with reduced
skeletal muscle size, strength and gait speed in older age"

More or less known among older folks.

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audiometry
I think general strength-training folk-wisdom is that it's easier to build
muscle if at some point in the past you had built muscle, even if it had
withered in the meantime.

I don't understand the science here, but I think they're saying the initial
muscle-building efforts do something to the genome that allow future
hypertrophy efforts to be more fruitful.

~~~
amval
Simplified and probably somehwat inaccurate explanation: The currently
believed theory about this effect it's that the number of nuclei in your
muscle cells increase, along with the actuall volume of the cell. Cell volume
decreases quite fast, but the number of nuclei stays more or less constant,
allowing you tor egain cell volume quite fast.

Anabolic drugs push the natural upper limits of myonuclei per cell, which can
remain higher than natural even years after stopping exercise/dosing.

So once you have reached a certain level of hypertrophy

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lawlessone
our cells can have multiple nuclei?

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burfog
Yes, in long muscle fibers and in the syncytiotrophoblast of the placenta.
This involves repurposed viral DNA. Viruses use that DNA to spread directly
from cell to cell. The placenta makes a giant multi-nucleated cell to block
any gaps.

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_pmf_
Proliferation/increasing satellite cells is kind of the holy grail of body
building. Creatine helps here a little (at least if you're deficient from a
vegetarian/vegan diet):
[https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/h2001-045](https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/h2001-045)
(aside from the "tactical" effects of creatine).

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mamon
Christian Bale dropping weight for a role in Machinist, only to gain the
muscle back for the role in Batman [1] seems like a classic example of this
effect.

[1]
[https://www.menshealth.com/uk/fitness/lifestyle/a26004466/ch...](https://www.menshealth.com/uk/fitness/lifestyle/a26004466/christian-
bale-batman-vice-american-psycho-transformations/)

~~~
barry-cotter
Steroids help enormously if you want to quickly put on large amounts of
muscle.

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ericmcer
Is there such a thing as inheritance of epigenetics? I have done a lot of
weight-lifting off and on and often wondered if I conceived a child while
maintaining a perfect diet, tons of exercise and sleep, they would come out
much differently than if they were conceived while i was eating garbage and
laying around.

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mo1ok
Does this scientifically explain the phenomenon colloquially known as "dad
strength?"

