Mind2Muscles Connection – Bonus Tips

The secret to success is in the saying which I have slightly altered for my own benefit that is Put your heart where your mind is Or put your mind where your heart is. Interesting thought!! Isn’t it?

I can relate it to my fitness mantra of connecting mind with the muscle for better build up. When I go to gym and see other fellows around me doing the same reps as me but still with a different outcome. It made me wonder about the difference. That led me to do some searching of my own for the famous Mind2Muscles connection.

To know more about the Mind2Muscles connection - this study evaluates whether focusing on using specific muscles during bench press can selectively activate these muscles.

Resistance-trained individuals can increase triceps brachii or pectarilis major muscle activity during the bench press when focusing on using the specific muscle at intensities up to 60 % of 1RM. A threshold between 60 and 80 % appeared to exist.

Altogether 18 resistance-trained men participated. Subjects were familiarized with the procedure and performed one-maximum repetition (1RM) test during the first session.

In the second session, 3 different bench press conditions were performed with intensities of 20, 40, 50, 60 and 80 % of the pre-determined 1RM: regular bench press, and bench press focusing on selectively using the pectoralis major and triceps brachii, respectively.

Surface electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded for the triceps brachii and pectoralis major muscles. Subsequently, peak EMG of the filtered signals were normalized to maximum maximorum EMG of each muscle.

Results: In both muscles, focusing on using the respective muscles increased muscle activity at relative loads between 20 and 60 %, but not at 80 % of 1RM. Overall, a threshold between 60 and 80 % rather than a linear decrease in selective activation with increasing intensity appeared to exist.

The increased activity did not occur at the expense of decreased activity of the other muscle, e.g. when focusing on activating the triceps muscle the activity of the pectoralis muscle did not decrease.

On the contrary, focusing on using the triceps muscle also increased pectoralis EMG at 50 and 60 % of 1RM.

Resistance-trained individuals can increase triceps brachii or pectarilis major muscle activity during the bench press when focusing on using the specific muscle at intensities up to 60 % of 1RM. A threshold between 60 and 80 % appeared to exist

To help you achieve maximum buildup and ignite the mind to muscles connection I have trained on these tips which I want to share with you as bonus for reading my health tips.

Bonus tip 1. Lightly tap muscle group during exercise.

Bonus tip 2. Stretch secondary muscles before exercise.

Bonus tip 3. Imagine in your mind that you are stretching and contracting the muscle.

Bonus tip 4. Slow down your reps.

You need to engage your working muscles to achieve the finely tuned build up. Forget the reps. Just concentrate on the particular muscle group. This connection is the fastest and most effective way to build your body like a pro. Enjoy your exercise. You can read more about DOMS. Healthy Workout!!

• Importance of Mind to Muscle connection