Childhood fitness needs muscle memory to develop. It is a process that builds on itself. But what exactly is muscle memory? Let’s go back to when your child was first born. They had an immature brain and central nervous system that was connected to each muscle. Each time your baby moved their arms or legs it sent a message back to the brain on what just happened. The brain recorded what happened and put that on file for the next time that body part moved. Over time the same brain cells are activated in response to a specific movement and they memorize how to make that specific movement. With continued use the movement gets more precise and your child can use their extremities for specific activities like crawling and then walking and then running. Each movement builds on itself.
Muscle memory is used for all basic athletic skills like throwing, kicking, and catching. The thing that muscle memory can do for your child is to learn basic skills as a child and retain them for life. It appears that these motor skills are permanent. Once learned to perform a specific activity like riding a bike your brain will always remember how to do it. This is why it is so important to give your children a wide variety of activities when they are young. Once an activity is learned you have given your child a skill for life. Things like catching a baseball or hitting a golf ball can be learned with muscle memory when your child is young and then they can use that in the future as they wish. No one can take that skill away from them.
When your child first learns a skill they have to give it thought, but the more they practice the skill it can become automatic. Some skills will become so automatic and kids may not be conscious about what they are doing. When this happens they can then think about other things going on in their environment. Let’s take soccer for example. Specifically, think about running and kicking. Let me take you back to when your child was one year old and just started to walk. They had to give it thought. As they developed more muscle memory they could learn to run. The more they ran the less they actually had to think about running and next they could see a ball on the ground and then learn to kick it as they are running. The more they practiced running and kicking the less they had to think about it and now while on the soccer field they can be more aware of where they are and where the goal is and where each player is on the field. Muscle memory allowed them to be able to run and kick the ball almost unconsciously so they could spend more thought on what others were doing on the pitch.
Not only can muscle memory help to learn a skill but it can help to fine tune it. Hitting a golf ball is one thing but hitting it well and consistent is another. Each time an activity is done the brain sends feedback about how well it was performed. Over time we can get very proficient at an activity as our muscle memory grows. This is why I think the most important part of practice is repetition. When a child likes a sport well enough that they do it frequently then they will improve faster than a child who does not like what they are doing. This is why it is important to make practice a positive experience. This is why sometimes your child should be allowed to go out and play or even practice with little or no instruction. Read my blog Childhood Fitness Should be Fun.
Now that you understand muscle memory, put it to use. Have your child do more activity and prepeat activities so they can become more proficient. In the end they will learn skills that they will have for the rest of their lives. The more skills they have the more opportunity they will have to be active now and as an adult.
