Do you often think about your schedule for the rest of the day during exercise? Or are your thoughts on the podcast you are listening to? Did you know that you train your muscles more effectively by thinking about your muscles during exercise? This is called the mind-muscle connection. How does that work? We looked it up for you!
Of course, we always applaud it when you enjoy a good sport or are in motion. Whether or not you think about your muscles while exercising. Still, we think this knowledge will help you if you want to make more progress while exercising. Effective training: how exactly do you do that?
Train your muscles with your brain
You don’t realize it, but your brain controls all the muscles in your body. While walking, drinking your coffee and also during exercise. Thanks to the signals from your brain, your muscles know exactly what to do. Often we don’t consciously think about this, such as while walking or doing squats, lunges or yoga exercises. When you do think about this, your brain and muscles make a better connection. The muscle fibers that make up your muscles therefore tighten more efficiently.
Benefits of the mind-muscle connection
Do you ever go to the gym without knowing what the equipment you use is good for? Do you do workouts without knowing which muscle group you are training? Or do you go through your shopping list in your head while doing abdominal exercises? If this is the case with you, then you are not training very effectively. You make much more progress when you focus on the muscle group you are currently training. These muscles are then fully activated. And this activation is necessary to build stronger muscles. If you combine this with good posture and the correct execution of the exercise, you are doing well. The muscles that you are not training at that moment are activated less. So there is more power left for the muscle group that you do want to train.
To work
How do you apply this in practice? To focus on a certain muscle group, your brain must of course know where this muscle group is located. Sometimes it helps to look at your muscles. For others, it can actually help to close your eyes to focus more concentrated on the right muscles. Do you know which muscle to focus on? Then it is important to go for a lightweight. For example, more attention is paid to performing the exercise properly and making the right movement. This is often much more effective than lifting or pushing a higher weight incorrectly. The pace of the exercise is also important. By performing a movement slowly, you can better focus on good form and the mind-muscle connection. Conclusion: start with a lightweight, ensure a good execution at a slow pace and think about the muscle group you are training. Get started: just think!
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