The mind muscle connection sounds like a gym myth. However, it’s real and there’s science to prove it.

Our brains can do amazing things, and just like how our brain tells us to speak and eat and listen, it also tells us which muscles to activate during certain movements. Several studies have recognised that the mind muscle connection exists. And not only that, but it can increase muscle activation, leading to increased muscle growth.

What is the Mind Muscle Connection?

This is the ability to focus on a specific muscle contraction. There are two ways you can focus during exercise; internal and external. Internal focus is the capacity to think about our movement during performance and external focus is directing our attention to the environment around us.

To utilise the mind-muscle connection is to direct focus internally. For example, when performing a push up an internal cue would be to squeeze your chest muscle as you push up from the ground.

How Does the Mind Muscle Connection Work?

Whenever you move, certain muscles contract. Within the muscles are muscle fibres and the more force you need, the more muscle fibres will be recruited. If you’re doing a bicep curl and you’re simply swinging the dumbbell up and down, you won’t be recruiting as many fibres as you could. By focusing on the biceps brachii muscles and squeezing them during the concentric contract, you’ll be recruiting more fibres which will lead to greater muscle activation.

How Can You Improve Your Mind Muscle Connection?

One of the best ways to do this is by slowing down the exercise. When you increase the time the muscle is under tension, it gives you an opportunity to really focus on squeezing the muscle you want to contract. So, take it slow.

When Should You Use The Mind Muscle Connection?

The primary benefit of the mind muscle connection is muscle hypertrophy; therefore this method can be beneficial for bodybuilders and physique based sports where the main goal is muscle activation.

When incorporating internal focus into your training, you should start by using it on single-joint movements, for example; Dumbbell lateral raises, bicep curls and Cable tricep pulldowns. Exercises such as these require muscle activation from fewer muscle groups and therefore it’s easier to hone in on the muscles you want to use. Once you’ve practised this, you can try using internal cues during bigger compound lifts when you want to focus on a specific muscle.

When Should You Not Use The Mind Muscle Connection?

You might think that it’s always beneficial to use the mind-muscle connection, a simple way to maximise muscle growth. However, there are some circumstances when it isn’t as effective.

It’s much more effective when lifting lighter loads less than 80% of your 1 rep max. Anything more than this and its benefit for muscle growth drops significantly. One of the main reasons for this might be due to our inability to focus properly when lifting heavier loads. Because of this, the mind muscle connection is not useful for sports such as Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting and Strongman where you’re competing for a 1 RM and maximising force production is your main aim.

Another area where the mind muscle connection might not be as effective is for beginners. Resistance training requires a lot of skill and motor control. Beginners should be focused on lifting safely and improving their technique. Adding extra cues to focus on squeezing certain muscles could be distracting and cause lifts to be performed incorrectly. 

This is great news if hypertrophy is your goal and you’re training at home with limited equipment. It’s possible that you can still increase muscle size by intentionally thinking about your movement without having to lift heavier.

Written by guest author Eryn Barber.

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Tags: Exercise Type > Strength