Practice improves muscle memory
- col-bobbie-randall
- January 18, 2024
- 371
A while back my husband and I attended a firearms safety class. Our time in class and on the range was educational and just plain fun. The sport of marksmanship is centuries old. The instructor reported that, in general, women are usually better shots than men.
So with the odds in my favor, I approached this new adventure with anticipated pride. My ego was quickly shot down, pun intended, when my husband’s bullet target had fewer holes out of range than mine.
During class the qualified trainer kept repeating a phrase I just could not stop recycling in my brain. With each new skill that was explained and demonstrated, the word practice was repeated and repeated again. Yeah, yeah, I heard that before — practice makes perfect. Practice reminds me of piano lessons. The road to Hades is paved with good intentions; that is why I still cannot play the piano. I hate to practice.
A light bulb flashed brightly above my head when the firearms instructor restated that the practice of practice means building muscle memory. Muscle memory — is that another way of saying practice? That puts a new spin on the definition of practice.
I thought this concept through and realized my husband has more muscle memory than I do with firearms. If I put a crochet hook in his hands, I’ll bet more of my stitches would be on target.
I thought of muscle memory and eating. I have no idea why most of my thought processes return to food, but they do. How much of our intake habits rely on muscle memory?
No matter what my mother would prepare for supper, my father would always do a shake-shake-shake with salt over his food. That was muscle memory. Then he became hypertensive, and she slyly covered half the holes of the salt shaker with tape from the inside of the lid. She was a good wife.
The sight of mashed potatoes in a large bowl or pan can cause some people to plop not just one heaping spoonful on their plate, but two or three. That is muscle memory. And, of course, we all know 69% of Americans belong to the Clean Plate Club. If it is on the plate, it passes the lips and may end up on the hips.
Let’s talk about chewing. The muscles in the jaw are used for more than talking. They have memories too. How many bites or chomps does it take of a mouthful of food before safely swallowing? Depending on the consistency of the tasty morsel, more or less may be needed. The more chewing involved, the less calories are consumed.
Mother used to say if I could not swallow what I had in my mouth in three chews, then I had too much in my mouth. Try it. Just try chewing anything in your mouth with at least three chomps. This will take time and train the jaw muscles to eat more slowly. It will improve the muscle memory of your mouth.
Think about muscle memory in all the movements you perform. Firearms and crochet depend upon muscle memory. What kind of muscle memories do your muscles hold regarding food? I think I’ll start with a bag of potato chips, my favorites.
Bobbie Randall is a registered, licensed dietitian. Email her at bobbierandallrd@gmail.com.