Why the mind-muscle connection is important and how to improve it
What is the mind-muscle connection?
It is a connection that allows you to mentally control your muscles on purpose.
When performing an exercise with weights, you can mentally control your target muscle during each repetition. The goal is to achieve a strong contraction within the target muscle.
It also allows you to individually control individual muscles and different parts of the body, that is, move your toes separately. With a good mind-muscle connection, you are aware of what each part of your body is doing. You are connected to it. Plays an important role in coordination.
With a good mind-muscle connection, you can get your muscles working during a workout without any weight. You can feel your muscles working.
What are the benefits of the mind-muscle connection?
- fewer injuries
- better coordination
- Know what your body is doing
- more effective workouts
- More in touch with your body and aware of how it feels
- Efficient use of muscles in daily activities.
The benefits are truly endless. Creating a mind-muscle connection puts you in touch with your body. This, in turn, helps to reconnect your mind, body, and soul and makes you more aware of how your thoughts affect your body.
While the mind-muscle connection is extremely beneficial for strengthening our muscles, the connection to our bodies as we age is important to prevent body stiffness. It can creep without you noticing. If you’re connected to your body, you can stay in control and stay fit for longer.
It can also help improve balance and coordination.
Can you develop a mind-muscle connection?
It definitely can. It can take up to 45 days to retrain the brain and develop new neural pathways. Training should be done almost every day.
However, it is important to give your brain a break for a day or two to allow the new information to settle. Remember that you need regular training, just like your muscles.
How can I train my brain to have a mind-muscle connection?
A very good way to start is with a biceps curl.
Stand tall and tuck one of your elbows into your waist and assume the starting position of a bicep curl. Pretend you are holding a weight. Don’t use a weight. It is important to start without weights.
Place your opposite hand on your bicep. Look at your biceps and think about your biceps. Put your mind on your biceps.
Begin to do a bicep curl very slowly. Feel how your muscle works. Think about how your muscle is working.
As you continue to slowly do a bicep curl, try to make your muscle contract a little harder. Really connect with your biceps muscle and be in control of it.
Once you’ve worked one side for a while, repeat on the other side.
Once you get the idea, try wiggling your toes separately. Sit with your foot up and look at your toes. Put your mind on your toes.
Try to move your big toe towards you while the other toes move away. Once you have that, try alternating your big toe back and forth with your other toes. Repeat with the other foot.
The important thing is that you don’t give up. You probably won’t feel anything for the first few weeks, but keep practicing with the same concentration each time. One day you’ll just ‘get it’ and then you can call it when you need it.
As you start to get the idea, try it with every muscle in your body. What you are essentially doing is putting your mind in your muscles and being in control of them.
Once you’ve established your mind-muscle connection, you can add light weights to your mind workout. It is important not to go too fast using weights that are too heavy. The form is everything.
A good mind-muscle connection will help you get more out of life no matter your age.
