Poor Muscle Response From Workouts
The effort behind any kind of workout always means much more than the workout itself, however many people fail to see results from their efforts in the gym.
Not getting any results from training can result from not having a clear, focused target (see Why You Should Be Logging Your Training), but still, some people do not see results in spite of their goals.
Goal setting will only get you so far after some time experienced weight lifters need to understand their bodies better to reach higher levels of growth and development.
Many of the problems that intermediate/advanced trainers experience (lagging, underdeveloped, unbalanced muscle development) occur from failing to observe and isolate their muscles better.
Using focused mind-muscle control you can dramatically improve your workouts and overall muscular development over time.
Mind-Muscle Control For Improved Results in the Gym
Having a strong mind-muscle connection gives you the biggest advantage over less experienced weightlifters: muscle recruitment.
Recruiting more muscle fibers during the concentric (lifting portion) of an exercise requires intensity, strength, and concentration. A powerful mind-muscle connection gets you to focus on HOW your lifting during an exercise and less emphasis on WHAT you’re lifting.
Your muscles don’t know how much weight you’re lifting, they only respond to the amount of force being stressed upon them.
When we start lifting weights with only regard to the amount of weight lifted, muscle development becomes neglected for our secondary muscle groups.
For example, a flat bench press of 295lbs is an impressive amount of weight to lift, but with poor mind-muscle connection, the triceps (secondary muscle group) may be targeted over the larger pectorals (primary muscle group).
This is how lagging muscle groups are developed (see Why is My Strength Stagnating).
To avoid this, the range of motion should be the become the main focus for all your exercises. Start by adjusting the speed of all your repetitions by slowing the eccentric (lowering) phase of your lifts.
Next, concentrate on squeezing the targeted muscle group during each of your exercises. Visualize mentally isolating the muscle when contracting on each rep.
Posing greatly improves the mind-muscle connection for those that are unfamiliar with engaging their muscles. Practice flexing between sets to become more aware of your target muscle groups.
The Wrap Up
A powerful mind-muscle connection is necessary to continue muscle development over time. If you have difficulty improving smaller/neglected muscle groups, your workouts may need to be adjusted to add more intensity for further growth. Observe your results and improve from there.
