Life hacks #2 Futsal FOMO and muscle memory
Here we are in week 262 of the lockdown and it looks we are getting a little closer to playing again, which is one step closer to living as far as I’m concerned. Given that nobody is playing at the moment I don’t feel futsal FOMO as such, more an existential crisis; Have I played futsal before? I can’t remember. Will I be any good when we get back?
We play futsal because apart from the fact it is the best sport in the world, it is the best game in the world. It is fun, fast, skillful and yet accessible to all. It is global, invigorating and impossible to achieve perfection. You can join a team in a day. You can play 7 days a week. You can play a game in an evening and after 2 hours you are showered with your futsal glow and ready to Marie Kondo your living room.
Futsal is a game of 10 people of which there is not a possibility to replicate without these fellow participants. There are options for the futsal soloist to practice, increase endurance or attain new skills. Juggling a ball is always an option. Beep test? You masochist you. If you are keen to add two skills not yet in your toolbox, drill these two into your muscle memory: Cruyff turn & Zidane Roulette. Muscle memory is a real thing which is handy for us all when we get back to playing.
Muscle memory has been accepted to be driven by the nervous system in remembering and replicating previous motor patterns. There are complementary theories that suggest that muscle memory also occurs at the molecular level within muscle cells. Muscle cell nuclei that carry gene information and control cell growth and reproduction, exist in multiples in muscles. Increased strength training leads to the addition of nuclei which in turn are the engine room for increased muscular output. The theory is that once there is a period of de-training the nuclei stay dormant but are reactivated once training resumes. It is theorised that this is an evolutionary outcome from intense activities and dormant periods following them.
Prehistoric muscle memory metaphor: The ancient contrasts in activities of intense exertion and dormant periods of time can be encapsulated when we were all cave people maniacally hunting Woolly Mammoths (WM) followed by cave time chilling. Cave down time involved avoiding the shitty weather and chilling out. We would’ve also been pickling and brining WM for a rainy day. This prehistoric metaphor relates to us now not playing futsal (cave time) and hunting those WM are us playing futsal. Deep I know.
Muscle memory is particularly relevant to our return to futsal because it means that:
Playing again will have a quick acceleration back to our previous levels of skills and endurance.
Those that exercise less now will not go back to zero, muscle memory will help offset any lack of gain and it will be a faster return to previous standard than someone who has never played before.
Skills and endurance can be added or enhanced so they are maintained up until futsal resumption or can be quickly tapped into after future periods of not playing.
I have futsal withdrawal and I need help. I’ve substituted other sports into my life like cycling and my crisis is pushing me ever closer to be something I never thought I would or could be; a MAMIL. Eeeew. Don’t fret though, I’m not there yet. This very much depends on how long our futsal abstinence goes on for. I don’t know how long I can hold off for. PLEASE Dan Andrews let us know when we can chase the modern day WM again. Until then, I’ll be on ebay with tears in my eyes, NOT (yet) buying lycra.
