You've heard about mind-muscle connection. But what is it, and how can you benefit from it?
Mind-muscle connection
Focusing on a muscle as you exercise is known as mind-muscle connection, it's a technique used by bodybuilders and athletes to target a muscle and increase it's activation. It works by directing and strengthening the signal from your brain to the muscle so it works more efficiently.
The challenge
If your like most people, your rear shoulder is much harder to mentally locate than a more familiar muscle like your bicep, making it much harder to form a strong mind-muscle connection. So trying to locate your rear shoulder while lifting a weight can be very challenging.
Tips To improve mind-muscle connection.
- Mental focus - try to visualize and think about the muscle as you lift
- Slower movements - lowering the tempo can help you feel the muscle working
- Pre-activation workouts - Try doing some light workouts targeting the muscle to prep you before the main workout. Like a practice session before the real workout.
- Visual feedback - Seeing the muscle you're targeting can make it easier to workout
- Physical cues - something like tapping the muscle before you start a set or get a personal trainer to provide cues
Focus
But we can't finish this post without talking about the Focus. It helps enhance mind-muscle connection by sending micro-vibrations to the muscle. This creates a physical cue making it easier to locate the muscle and target it confidently, without having to guess where it is. It's like having a trainer guide you to the target muscle.