Have you ever stepped into a gym and looked around at the “regulars” who are there day in and day out and noticed them standing around with their eyes closed just before they started their movements…it’s sort of similar to what the Olympic athletes do before their events.
It’s probably safe to say that you probably haven’t.
And here’s the reason…
Most people aren’t at the same level physically and mentally as a highly trained athlete. They haven’t yet realized the amazing power of the mind and its ability to work out so much more efficiently and to gain more strength.
But mark my words, that tendency may be changing very soon. And for good reason.
Why?
Well, there was this new study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that suggests that a person’s ability to visualize a situation can make them stronger.
Never mind the fact that a person’s “performance” can get better because of the benefits of using visualization, the study went on to explain how mental imagery might be working at a neurological level too!
And that’s pretty cool.
Here’s what the study looked like…
Twenty-two students, all at the average of about 20 years, who were involved in sports, participated in this 6-week long experiment. Before the study began, not of them ever had done any visualization techniques before.
Just like any study, the students were divided into two groups. One was a ‘control’ group and the other was a mental rehearsal group.
The whole purpose of the study was to see if visualization/mental imagery could increase their ability to lift more weight while bench pressing and gain more strength when doing leg presses.
Everyone was told very specific instructions on how to perform the mental imagery. Basically, in between each of their sets, they were instructed to vividly imagine they were already doing the movements that went with each exercise and how the muscle would feel as they were squeezed for each rep.
The Results Are In…
Not surprising was the fact that after 12 workout sessions, the group that practiced visualization techniques had considerably increased their strength much more than the control group…it was even more significant on the leg press.
As a result, the researchers concluded:
“The results provided evidence that mental imagery did contribute to improve strength of the leg muscles without any macroscopic structural change”
WHAT????
Ok, in plain old English, what the ‘egg heads’ were trying to say was that there was absolutely no “physical” change in the size of the muscles, yet the strength of each student was increased thanks to mental visualization.
Now just so you know…
It’s absolutely true that you can, and most likely will, get stronger and not see the size of your muscles grow. This is due to the body’s neuromuscular system, (ok another ‘Big” word… which means the muscular and nervous system), adapting and learning how to generate more strength.
For example, you can get stronger if more of your motor units (the nerve and muscle fibers it supplies) become activated when you contract your muscles. Think of it as if you had a heavy load to lift and instead of just one of you lifted it, you asked all your friends and neighbors to help out and lift it with you.
Sounds logical?
And that’s one way where visualizing things can help you out. By having a mental image of what you want to lift and actually seeing yourself lift it, you can teach your body to recruit more muscle fibers and generate much more force, all by just using your brain.
Professional and Olympic athletes have been doing this for years. It’s part of a regular routine where they can see themselves preparing for the start of an event, participating in the event and completing the event.
Scientists have even shown similar EMG activity (aka. the electrical activity produced by muscles) between mentally imagining an event and actually doing it physically! That’s because the brain works like a machine. It has no ability to tell the difference between something that is actually happening or is just imagined to happen. The outcome will be the same because the same signals are sent from the brain to the muscles.
So, the next time you step into a gym and you’re looking to get more from your workouts, prepare your brain for action. Take a moment or two to close your eyes, see yourself doing the movement, visualize how it is going to feel from beginning to end.. You’ll be surprised at how much stronger you will feel.
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CLICK HERE to discover their secrets!
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Tags: Body Transformation, Motivation, Strength Training Program, vizualization, Workouts