You lift heavy. You plan your workouts. Your training is progressive, periodised and programmed. But you're still missing one critical aspect of training. The mind to muscle connection.
Here's how to engage your brain for bigger gains.
If you want to gain muscle mass, size and shape, is it enough to lift heavy and with good form? Surely that will do the job, right? After all, muscle is tissue and will respond to force and tension?
You're missing a trick. Bodybuilders don't flex and pose at the gym for vanity (well, not purely out of vanity, anyway!) All that tensing and posturing is actually helping them connect with the muscle on a neural level; and the mind/muscle connection has been proven to boost muscle gains.
The mind to muscle connection is the secret behind amazing gains with lighter weights. Ever noticed how huge, chiseled guys manage to carve out winning physiques despite using light weights, cables and body weight exercises? Competitive bodybuilders don't always shift huge amounts of iron, especially when they're dieting and depleted. That's because they've harnessed the power of the mind/muscle connection.
The trick lies in learning how to direct neural drive directly towards the muscle you want to work. This activates and fires the muscle significantly better than simply lifting the weight without thinking about it, and enables you to make gains even whilst lowering the load.
Of course, you still need to shift a decent amount of weight which challenges your muscles, and this will vary depending on your lean body mass. And your lifting technique needs to be precise and focused. No swinging, using momentum, or rushing the tempo.
But tapping into the neural connection between your brain and your muscles will take your training to the next level. It'll get your muscle fibres firing and activated, and allow you to feel a deeper burn which can carve out detail you've never seen before.
So, what's going on during proper mind/muscle connection whilst lifting? Your neuromuscular dynamics will be heightened, leading to better connection with your body, better range of movement, increased blood flow and a better pump, and a key awareness of your own body which can only help your gains.
Here's how to work on your mind/muscle connection:
- Take a leaf out of the bodybuilders' book and flex the muscle before lifting. Try bodybuilding poses, or simply flex and move until you feel a connection and can "tap into" the muscle.
- Do lighter activation work before your big lifts, or superset heavier sets with lighter loads, to train your brain to connect.
- After your heavy lifting, add a few sets of lighter work and/or posing and flexing, focusing your mind on the squeeze, contraction and hold.
- Some lifters find it helps to close their eyes when creating the mind/muscle connection.
