Bodybuilders have spoken of “the mind/muscle connection” for many decades, but its existence has been a bone of contention in the scientific community the whole time.
Or should I say, it used to be.
Because today we’re going to dive into the research on this topic and either confirm or debunk “the mind/muscle connection” once and for all!
What Is “The Mind/Muscle Connection?”
It refers to your ability to focus on the muscle you’re trying to work.
For example, it is said that focusing on your biceps during a set of biceps curls can lead to greater muscle growth versus just knocking out the reps while dreaming about what you’re going to eat for dinner.
It’s a strategy which has been around since the co-called “golden age” of bodybuilding (1970-1980), and three people who have had a big influence on my own career happen to be practitioners of it.
First up, Hollywood strength and conditioning coach Zach Evan-Esh calls it “one of the the most important factors” in helping him transform the physiques of his A-list clientele.
High praise indeed.
The “Compton Superman” himself, CT Fletcher (above), agrees with this assessment. Heck, CT could be considered a walking embodiment of “the mind/muscle connection”, having shot to YouTube fame for literally yelling at his muscles in the gym (“I command you to grow!”).
And then there’s Ah-nuld.
“Being able to zone in on the muscle you are working, while you are working it, to create even better results.”
– Arnold Schwarzenegger
Does Science Support Or Deny This Theory?
I don’t think anyone would deny that it’s possible to “focus” on a muscle while you work it, but does this actually enhance your results in any way?
Doubters will say “No!”, because our muscles are just slabs of meat, and simply doing the movement is enough to unlock the desired outcome.
However, they are dead fucking wrong.
It turns out the bodybuilders of the 1970s really did know what they were talking about, because a recent study which was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research confirms that:
- Yes, the mind/muscle connection is real!
- Yes, it will improve your results!
In the study, trainees performed three sets of the classic barbell bench press with around 50% of their max weight. They were instructed to hit the reps as they normally would during the first set, and then they were instructed to focus on their chest during the second set, and focus on their triceps during the third set.
Remarkably, muscle activity in the pecs and triceps significantly improved (22% and 26%) when the trainees thought about the target muscle while working it!
Interestingly, when the researchers tried the same concept using 80% of their max they found that trainees were unable to focus on specific muscles once the weight crossed a certain threshold, which tells us that this technique is probably best applied when using lighter weights for higher reps. (1)
If we fast-forward three more years, a follow-up study was published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.
This time a team of Danish researchers instructed trainees set out to find where the “muscle/muscle connection” maximum threshold lies, so they instructed trainees to perform sets to failure with either 20%, 40%, 60%, or 80% of their max weight.
They noted that the best results occurred with the lightest weights (20% of max), and the trainees’ ability to focus on the target muscle reduced every time they moved up in weight. Interesting, huh? (2)
There’s also one more great study on this topic, and it came from researchers at Ohio University.
It’s often referred to as “the grip strength study”.
The team worked with a group of participants who actually had their wrists strapped up in surgical casts (!). One group of trainees were simply left to recover as normal, while a second group were instructed to spend 11 minutes per day “visualizing flexing and extending their forearms”.
Sounds crazy, right?
But what’s even crazier is that the visualisation group came out of the study twice as fucking strong! (3)
So there you have it, “the mind/muscle connection” is absolutely a real thing and it can definitely improve your results in the gym. Give it a try during your next high rep workout and let me know how you get on!
References:
- Snyder, B. J. et al. Effect of verbal instruction on muscle activity during the bench press exercise. J Strength Cond Res (2012).
- Calatayud, J., et al. Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training. Eur J Appl Physiol (2016).
- Clark, B. C., et al. The power of the mind: the cortex as a critical determinant of muscle strength/weakness. J Neurophysiol (2014).