It's kinda, a mix of both. I'm currently learning to program and have been doing it on and of to the last 10 years. If I stop programming for even a month, I forget so much of what learned BUT i retain the logical reasoning to solve the problems. Like, i know i need to use a for loop here, i just don't remember how to make one.

If i take a break from a project, i pretty much HAVE to refactor when I start again because I'm still not great at preparing the project for my future (dumber) self.