Mind muscle connection is referred to as the ability of internal cueing of the muscle for better activation or attempt to perform harder muscle contraction by increasing the neurological drive. For ages, various experts believed that the mind-muscle connection is essential for maximizing growth.
Let’s first get more clarity on how to implement a mind-muscle connection.
Consider performing a bicep curl. Ideally, one would hold a dumbbell and curl the arm fully and then straighten it, but with a mind-muscle connection, one has to squeeze the bicep harder when the dumbbell is at the top by intentionally flexing harder as one does it in front of the mirror to check the gains.
In theory, this internal focus on the target muscle increases its activation and hence leads to more gains. Some studies( Schoenfeld et al., 2018 ; Calatayud et al., 2016 ) have supported this in their findings and mostly this is true for upper body muscles. It’s probably because most people have much better control over their arm or upper body muscles when compared to lower body muscles. So it’s definitely a very helpful strategy to improve gains that may possibly happen.
Limitations
As we have established what is mind-muscle connection and how it may affect the gains. Now let’s look at its limitations.
- Internal focus is very difficult to execute when lifting heavy weights close to failure. Most of the focus shifts to lifting the load in correct posture rather than emphasizing on increasing the target muscle contraction. So the internal focus is limited to light to moderate loads only( Snyder and Fry, 2012 ).
- Using the Mind-muscle connection technique is tough to achieve for beginners as they are mostly unaware of the muscles used in a movement and lack enough control over those muscles.
Practical Recommendations
- One must prioritize the execution of the movement with the correct technique and focus on lifting heavier weights as lifting more weights helps to increase the volume which compliments muscle hypertrophy.
- When lifting light to moderate weights one can focus on the internal cueing method to take advantage of the mind-muscle connection technique.
Reference
- Calatayud, J., Vinstrup, J., Jakobsen, M.D., Sundstrup, E., Brandt, M., Jay, K., Colado, J.C., Andersen, L.L., 2016. Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training - PubMed. European journal of applied physiology 116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7
- Schoenfeld, B.J., Vigotsky, A., Contreras, B., Golden, S., Alto, A., Larson, R., Winkelman, N., Paoli, A., 2018. Differential effects of attentional focus strategies during long-term resistance training - PubMed. European journal of sport science 18. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2018.1447020
- Snyder, B.J., Fry, W.R., 2012. Effect of verbal instruction on muscle activity during the bench press exercise - PubMed. Journal of strength and conditioning research 26. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e31823f8d11
