Mind Your Muscles

The mind-muscle connection is REAL!

What is the mind-muscle connection? It's the ability to focus so deeply on a muscle that you can increase the amount of muscle fibers you are using in that muscle and therefore get better results in muscle growth. You can also use it to contract a muscle with more force, allowing you to be stronger. Research has shown that both examples are possible and real. Yet some skeptics feel that this concept is not real science and is just "touchy-feely" nonsense invented by bodybuilders in the 70's. It is true that Arnold and his gang of training partners like Franco Columbo, Frank Zane, and Dave Draper were big believers in this concept. Clearly it worked for them and it can work for you. The latest study showing how the mind-muscle connection can work, and how you can fine tune it, comes from the University of South Carolina Upstate.

The researchers had weight-trained football players perform 3 sets of bench presses using their 50% rep max weight (that's a weight equal to 50 percent of their one-rep max weight, or a weight that they could do for a little more than 20 reps) and 3 sets using their 80% RM (a weight that they could do for about 7-8 reps).

During each bench press set, they measured the muscle activity of the athletes' pecs, triceps, and front deltoids. In the first set they were given no instructions. In the second set they were told to use just their chest muscles. And in the third set they were told to use only their triceps muscles.

When the athletes used the light weight (50% RM) and were instructed to use just their chest muscle, the muscle activity of their pecs increased by 22% compared to when they had no instructions.

When they were told to use only their triceps while lifting the light weight, their triceps muscle activity increased by 26%. During the heavier lift (80% RM) the increase in muscle activity of the focused muscles were not as significant. They concluded that focusing on a specific muscle during exercises such as the bench press can increase the amount of muscle fibers used in that muscle, but that this may be more effective with lighter weight.

Jim's take-home message:

When lifting with heavier weights (sets where your rep range is 8 reps or less) focus on lifting the most weight. Because the weight is fairly heavy your body will need to focus on recruiting as many muscle fibers from as many muscle groups as possible to lift it. And focusing on lifting the weight can help you to get significantly stronger.

When using lighter weight, sets of about 10 reps and above, focus more on the target muscle group being used. This can increase the amount of muscle fibers being used specifically by that muscle during the lift. And the more muscle fibers you are using the greater the muscle growth you can expect in the long run. Using my Micro Muscle program as an example, during microcycles 1 and 2 focus on each target muscle during each set. Then in microcycles 3 and 4 focus on lifting the weight. This will help you gain more muscle mass and get stronger at the same time.

Reference:

Snyder, B. J. and Fry, W. R. Effect of verbal instruction on muscle activity during the bench press exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Sep;26(9):2394-400.

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