Have you ever worked on a movement that was challenging, and, without practicing it much again – or even at all – found yourself better at it few days or weeks later ? That’s what offline gains are; sort of delayed motor skill improvements that happen only during the consolidation phase of our brains, when skills are assimilated.
During this consolidation phase, very often, we have the impression to be stagnant, to not improve at all, but in reality, the area of the brain that processes that particular movement is still active and is assimilating the skill. [1] Isn’t it formidable ?
This article sums up a study done by Marlene Bönstrup et al. which actually suggests that for better assimilation of a new motor skill, taking short breaks regularly (only 10 seconds at a time) when practicing a new movement is much more efficient than practicing this movement over and over, without breaks during the practice. [2] Even more interesting : consolidation of a new motor skill isn’t, contrary to popular belief, sleep-dependent – at least in healthy adults. Whenever your brain isn’t working directly on that specific motor skill, the consolidation happens, whether you sleep or not. Basically, you’re not learning when performing the movement, but after performing it. [3] 🤯
I found it remarquable, not only because it underlines the importance of rest in a world where “more is better” is still a motto, but also shows us that the idea of “practice and all is coming” isn’t quite accurate.
Learning a new movement skill isn’t just about repetition, since many other factors can contribute to how well we retain it – rest being one of them. Could it partially explain why some people just seem better at grasping new movements than others ? That’s a question for further investigation 😉
[1] Diva Lugassy et al. Consolidation of complex motor skill learning: evidence for a delayed offline process. Sleep, Volume 41, Issue 9, September 2018
[2] Marlene Bönstrup et al. A Rapid Form of Offline Consolidation in Skill Learning. Current Biology, Volume 29, Issue 8, April 2019
[3] Dezso Nemeth et al. Sleep has no critical role in implicit motor sequence learning in young and old adults. Experimental Brain Research, Volume 201, Issue 2, March 2010
Interesting!! I have wondered indeed. Especially in the past when I was still an avid ashtangi. Back in those days I would practise 2 hours every day & feeling stagnant if I didn’t. A wide stance forward fold (prasarita padottanasana) with my head on the floor was the ultimate goal, although I believed I would never get there because my legs are long and my torso is short. However, one time it happened that I couldn’t train for 2-3 days. Once I picked up my practice again, feeling worried that my flexibility had declined, the miracle occurred! My head suddenly reached the floor in the wide forward fold!? I always wondered what that depended on and whether it was good to have practice off-time. You just gave me the answer, so thank you!! Oh and I love you are not just referring to blogs & websites, but to actual science. That makes it so much more credible.
Thank you for sharing your story; it must have been a pleasant surprise to notice such gain in flexibility when you were worried the opposite would happen 😀 I remember experiencing gain in flexibility during a meditation retreat where I wasn’t moving much. It definitely highlights how much brain plasticity plays a big role when it comes to skill acquisition and improvement in motor functions.
Hehe, I love digging into papers that support or refute claims I read. There are too many articles that are written without evidence that I feel obliged to be extra careful to do research before publishing anything 😊