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What is ‘muscle memory’ and can I improve mine?

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · · 915 words · By Celia Harris; Justin Christensen
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What to know about What is ‘muscle memory’ and can I improve mine?

Whether it’s riding a bike or knitting a sweater, there are some tasks you do without thinking.

Claims checked 13
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center83%
Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Whether it’s riding a bike or knitting a sweater, there are some tasks you do without thinking.

Why it matters

These are commonly associated with “muscle memory”, the idea your body can remember how to perform complex tasks and, over time, learn to do them automatically.

Common ground

In popular culture, we usually associate “muscle memory” with tasks we do, or skills we learn, without much conscious thought.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-04-22-what-is-muscle-memory-and-can…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 5
schedule Pending 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified Verified 2
check_circle Corroborated 1
info
Claim 1: “procedural memory involves our brain as well as our muscles.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is explicitly supported by a cross-reference from 'The Conversation', but the other web results are generic dictionary definitions of the word 'procedural' and do not provide scientific corroboration.
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web search NEUTRAL — The meaning of PROCEDURAL is of or relating to procedure; especially : of or relating to the procedure used by courts or other bodies administering substantive law. How to use procedural in a sentence…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/procedural
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web search NEUTRAL — PROCEDURAL definition: 1. relating to a set of actions that is the official, legal, or accepted way of doing something…. Learn more.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/procedur…
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web search NEUTRAL — Definition of procedural adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/englis…
+ 1 more evidence source
schedule
Claim 2: “Sleeping after each practice session may also help. Research suggests this is because sleep helps you remember and retain new skills.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 3: “When you start repeating and practising a skill, you instead rely on sensorimotor circuits.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.
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Claim 4: “Scientists describe procedural memory as a kind of “non-declarative memory”, meaning it’s memory based on actions, rather than words.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources (one a direct web search result and one an eFinder result) explicitly state that procedural memory is a kind of 'non-declarative memory' based on actions rather than words.
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web search NEUTRAL — Declarative memory can be further sub-divided into semantic memory, concerning principles and facts taken independent of context; and episodic memory, concerning information specific to a particular c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory
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web search NEUTRAL — Scientists describe procedural memory as a kind of “non-declarative memory”, meaning it’s memory based on actions, rather than words. This means it can be difficult to share skills you might’ve learnt…
https://theconversation.com/what-is-muscle-memory-and-can-i-…
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web search NEUTRAL — “Procedural memory is a type of ‘non-declarative memory’ based on actions rather than verbal information.”“An Australian study found that a 91-year-old woman with severe Alzheimer’s could learn and re…
https://efinder.lk/news/article/what-is-muscle-memory-and-ca…
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Claim 5: “In one Australian study... they found that a 91-year-old woman with severe Alzheimer’s, who’d never been a musician, was able to learn a brand-new song.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 6: “cognitive scientists call this type of memory “procedural memory” rather than “muscle memory”.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided web search results for this claim only provide general definitions of 'cognitive' and 'cognition' from dictionaries and Wikipedia, but do not specifically confirm the terminology shift from 'muscle memory' to 'procedural memory' as used by cognitive scientists.
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web search NEUTRAL — Many disciplines explore cognition, including psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. They examine different levels of abstraction and employ distinct methods of inquiry. Some scientists stud…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition
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web search NEUTRAL — The meaning of COGNITIVE is of, relating to, being, or involving conscious intellectual activity (such as thinking, reasoning, or remembering). How to use cognitive in a sentence.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive
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web search NEUTRAL — The adjective, cognitive, comes from the Latin cognoscere "to get to know" and refers to the ability of the brain to think and reason as opposed to feel. A child's cognitive development is the growth …
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cognitive
info
Claim 7: “prior training can speed up muscle growth.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results discuss general muscle loss with age, strength training benefits, and eccentric loading, but none specifically address whether 'prior training' (muscle memory in a physiological sense) speeds up the regrowth of muscle.
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web search NEUTRAL — Discover how eccentric loading accelerates muscle growth and repair. Learn about the science of negative reps, hypertrophy, and injury prevention techniques.
https://iamcure.com/how-eccentric-loading-can-accelerate-mus…
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web search NEUTRAL — Then comes decline, when people lose muscle at a rate of at least 3-5% per decade. By the time we are older, in our 60s and 70s, the rate of loss can accelerate to roughly 1% a year, or 10% a decade.
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/mar/11/older-adult…
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web search NEUTRAL — Strength training twice a week can increase muscle mass by 1.5% per month...
https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/how-can-strength-training-build…
verified
Claim 8: “these changes do not allow muscles to “store” memories or information in the same way as the brain.”
VERIFIED
Evidence from 'The Myth of Muscle Memory' explicitly states that memory is drawn from the brain which controls the muscles, and Live Science confirms that synapses in the brain are the basis for storing information, supporting the claim that muscles do not store memories in the same way the brain does.
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web search NEUTRAL — The information stored as memory is drawn from deep inside the brain which then controls and commands everything else, including voluntary skeletal muscle fibers. The education, knowledge and informat…
https://thetrainingfloor.org/myth-muscle-memory/
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web search NEUTRAL — The amount of information the brain can store is greater than once thought, new research suggests.These synapses form the basis of learning and memory, as brain cells communicate at these points and t…
https://www.livescience.com/health/neuroscience/the-brain-ca…
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web search NEUTRAL — We're kicking off our exploration of muscles with a look at the complex and important relationship between actin and myosin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktv-CaOt6UQ
help
Claim 9: “procedural memory is it’s largely unaffected by cognitive decline.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.
info
Claim 10: “scientists still don’t know exactly how this all works [referring to prior training speeding up muscle growth].”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided discusses how to increase hypertrophy and general exercise science, but does not address the current state of scientific knowledge regarding the specific mechanism of prior training speeding up growth.
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web search NEUTRAL — These are the 7 best exercises for men to build muscle fast. Whether you're a beginner, a skinny guy struggling to get bigger, or even if you're advanced th...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGGleRBn99Q
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web search NEUTRAL — Muscular hypertrophy can be increased through strength training and other short-duration, high-intensity anaerobic exercises. Lower-intensity, longer-duration aerobic exercise generally does not resul…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_hypertrophy
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web search NEUTRAL — As pediatric exercise scientists, we create and evaluate programs that help children be healthy. The exciting news is that while you have no control over your genetics, you can train to improve your s…
https://theconversation.com/why-are-some-people-faster-than-…
verified
Claim 11: “When you learn something new, you’re largely using the pre-frontal and fronto-parietal regions of the brain.”
VERIFIED
The source 'Muscles Have Their Own Kind of Memory' explicitly states that when learning something new, the pre-frontal and fronto-parietal regions are largely used. This is supported by the Wikipedia entry on the Prefrontal cortex regarding higher-order cognitive functions.
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web search NEUTRAL — Motor cortex region of brain.When the brain is healthy it functions quickly and automatically. But when problems occur, the results can be devastating. NINDS supports research on hundreds of neurologi…
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/public-educatio…
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web search NEUTRAL — This brain region is involved in a wide range of higher-order cognitive functions, including speech formation (Broca's area), gaze (frontal eye fields), working memory (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex)…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefrontal_cortex
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web search NEUTRAL — When you learn something new, you're largely using the pre-frontal and fronto-parietal regions of the brain. These are associated with attention, memory, and deliberate, effortful thinking. When you s…
https://www.sciencealert.com/MUSCLES-HAVE-THEIR-OWN-KIND-OF-…
info
Claim 12: “Research suggests repetition is the best and fastest way to improve your procedural memory.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the search results mention 'spaced repetition' for general memory and define procedural memory, they do not explicitly state that repetition is the 'best and fastest' way to improve procedural memory specifically.
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web search NEUTRAL — How does procedural memory work? Scientists describe procedural memory as a kind of "non-declarative memory", meaning it's memory based on actions, rather than words. This means it can be difficult to…
https://www.sciencealert.com/muscles-have-their-own-kind-of-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Discover practical strategies to improve memory and focus while studying. Learn about the Pomodoro Technique, spaced repetition, mind mapping, and more to enhance your cognitive performance.
https://toxigon.com/how-to-improve-memory-and-focus-while-st…
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web search NEUTRAL — The PQ4R Method: How to Study More Effectively. Want to make studying less stressful and more productive? The PQ4R method is designed to help you organize and retain information with ease. Here is how…
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/411727590941903594/
schedule
Claim 13: “One Canadian study found people with Alzheimer’s dementia... recognised words better when they were sung as opposed to spoken.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.