The Mind Muscle Connection is key

Posted by bodybuilder

Posted: August 27, 2008 - 3:22 pm

If you are lifting weights, I'm assuming you are out to build muscle. If you have been lifting weights for a few months... or years and cannot get a stubborn muscle or 5 to grow, then you may be lacking what is called "the mind muscle connection." Most serious weightlifters who have already achieved a degree of muscle mass, clearly will know what this is. For everyone else, let me entertain you with some touchy feely words.

Shhhh, I'm connecting with my muscles right now!

Having a deep connection to the muscles you are working, say for example biceps- means you are 100% focused on those muscles for every repetition and every part of the contraction (eccentric/concentric). It doesn't mean you are staring off into space while you curl, singing along to Britney Spears and thinking about what you did last weekend. You must be soley focused on the task at hand, otherwise your time in the gym is going to be wasted. Not only time, but gym membership costs and the gas it took you to get there- hey I'm always calculating costs for everything in this crazy economy!

Keep your focus while lifting and limit distractions!

How do you keep from having an A.D.D moment while training? You put yourself into an almost hypnotic state of focus- that's how. Prepare for your workout before you arrive at the gym by thinking about what muscle group(s) you are going to work and what exercises you are going to choose, plug your headphones in and tell your cool friends sitting on the equipment who are trying to distract you that you'll chat with them later. Get into your zone and stay there for the entire workout.

For some, this doesn't come so easy. If you are having problems focusing your mind, re-establish your goals and why you are there. Think about how you feel at that moment; did you get enough to eat? Are you tired? Ask, then answer. Fix the problem and get the job done.

When doing Barbell Curls for biceps, feel the muscles doing the work and go slow in the eccentric (downward) part of the repetition, feeling the nice stretch in your biceps and the area getting pumped with blood. Arnold Schwarzenegger used to imagine that his biceps (which were one of his best and biggest features) were massive mountains when he'd train. Visualization techniques are one of the most powerful tools you can use to get where you want to be with your fitness aspirations.

Visualize yourself in the winner's circle

Visualization can also be considered a kind of meditation where you play a detailed, relaxing movie in your mind of how you want something to transpire. Everything down to the temperature in the room and the smell in the air is imagined, the more detailed the better. You can do this with anything and it's quite amazing. The mental energy that you will conjure up with deep, positive thought and visualization is one of the most overlooked necessities of life. Having the ability to tap into this way of thinking will separate the winners from the losers in any competition. This concentration will ensure a more intense devotion to what you are doing.

Bringing your mind into focus creates a clarity for what you are doing not only in the gym, but outside of it as well. Bodybuilding has taught me many things that have carried over into the rest of my life. Discipline, commitment and goal setting are vital for success in the gym but also in business, relationships and school. We all need to be reminded to live in the moment once in awhile and if you can't figure out what's missing from your workouts, it might just be that mind muscle connection.

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