Has anyone heard of "muscle memory"?

Supposedly, if you had worked out extensively and had well developed muscles and then let yourself go (not completely) that it will be much easier for you to get back to a reasonably comparable state to where you were before as opposed to someone who has similar musculature but is starting to build muscle mass at the same time?
Answer:
Yes, there is such a thing as muscle memory.The scientific term for this is "neuromuscular fascilitation." Basically, when you train with weights, part of the adaptation is physical (i.e. a gain in muscle mass) but a large part is neurological. Your muscle is made of bundles of muscle fibers. Fibers work together in groups called "motor units". A motor unit has several fibers and a single nerve attached. Motor units follow the "all-or-nothing" rule. They can either be fully contracted, or not at all - there is no "in between." The difference between lifting a heavy weight or a light weight is the number of motor units that contract at the same time - more motor units means more force output from the muscle. That translates to either a heavier weight lifted or faster movement (like throwing a punch). The firing of these motor units is called "recruitment." When you do not train, your brain is not very good at recruiting motor units. Therefore, you are weak. When you train, the central nervous system "learns" how to better recruit these motor units. This is how your coordination improves. This is also why you can gain strength without gaining muscle mass or size - you are working with the same muscle fibers, but your brain and central nervous system are basically doing a better job of having them all perform work at the same time. This also leads to "tone" which is when the muscle fibers contract in anticipation of work, and leads to a firm muscle.When you begin training again after a long time, the central nervous system can "remember" the coordination. This is muscle memory. It means you will gain strength quickly because instead of learning it the first time, you are remembering the pattern of recruitment for training. This is also why it may seem you gain muscle quickly. The muscle was there, but now it becomes more firm ("toned") due to the new training stimulus.Jeremy Likness

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yes
your body does become conditioned to its fitness level even after years of not working out...
think of it as the brain, it REMEMBERS

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