Similarly you can identify that perhaps the whole muscle group you’re targeting isn’t getting enough work and can then increase the weight or somehow make it more difficult for yourself. If you are aware of your situation on the bench but you are ‘feeling’ how much work each pec is doing, then as you go you can start to work harder with the side that’s lagging and even out the balance. When you focus on your muscles as they work conversely, you can actually feel exactly how much each part of your body is working, where you are lacking, and where you need to put in more effort. Likewise if you’re doing a bench press and you’re not thinking actively about your pecs and their involvement in the exercise, then you can find you end up working harder on one side than the other for instance – and this can then in turn result in one side getting much stronger than the other side – a problem which becomes a vicious circle as you find that you use that more developed side more in each subsequent exercise. While it’s not something we often give much thought (this being the inherent problem), it’s all too easy for us to use other muscles, momentum or other factors to lift a weight.įor instance then, you might perform leg extensions and not realise that you are actually using momentum to extend them and perhaps handling some of the curl motion with your ankles or your hamstrings rather than the quads that should be doing the movement. Not only will this be liable to cause injury, but it will also mean that you’re easily able to ‘cheat’ by not quite working the muscle involved. While this can be useful for building pure explosive power though, it’s generally not the best way to work out. Some weightlifters and bodybuilders are lead to believe that they need to lift incredibly heavy weights with no regard to technique, control or anything else. Are you just blasting out repetition after repetition, letting the weights bounce wildly around, or are you feeling each muscle’s involvement in the movement and actively controlling the speed and position of the weight? Why It’s Important However it’s perhaps most useful to think of it as how much control you’re putting into the movements. Now this term is somewhat arbitrary unfortunately and can be used to describe a number of different things depending on who you’re talking to. If you’re a pro looking to find that ‘edge’ then this might just be that missing piece you’ve been looking for.Īs the name suggests, the ‘mind muscle connection’ describes a synergy between your brain and your muscles – meaning that you’re much more aware of how your muscles are functioning, much more focussed on the movements you’re making, and strongly in tune with how effective your workouts are. The truth is that while this concept isn’t going to turn you into Mr Olympia overnight and certainly isn’t essential to making some basic muscle gains, it is an important piece in the weightlifting puzzle nonetheless that can help you to bust your plateaus and get the very most out of your workouts. Like every other training concept from occlusion training to HITT, it has fans who absolutely swear by it and others who remain sceptical. The ‘mind muscle connection’ is one of those concepts in bodybuilding that many people hail as a secret ‘key’ to unlocking your full potential for muscle growth/weight loss. Just as important is to consider the mental aspect of the game and to make sure that you’re thinking about… well thinking when you’re lifting weights. ![]() If you want to push yourself further and enjoy some more intensive workouts, then looking into new training techniques and exercises is only one part of the equation.
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