Muscles and the Mind

I've been wanting to write this post for a long time, about how IMPORTANT it is to be completely present in MIND while exercising. When it comes to strength training certain muscle groups, it is difficult to always utilize the correct muscles, and to be aware if another muscle group starts compensating during the exercise. I will use the SQUAT as my example here, with my OWN personal "A-HA" moment:

Alright, back pedal 7 months, January 2012. I had been running like a mad woman, running 25-30 miles a week! I loved it, but unfortunately decided I HAD to make some changes because my ass had FLATTENED. I knew what I had to do. Squats, lunges, deadlifts===heavy, old school leg and glute building. However, each leg day, I would indeed cripple myself after sets and sets of squats, and saw glute development over the course of a few months, but not the type I was hoping for. Here's what I realized a couple of months ago: While I was indeed engaging my core, maintaining proper form, and squatting super low and wide to target the glute muscles, I wasn't mentally connecting with the glutes throughout the movement, and not intentionally squeezing the life out of the glutes from the very bottom of the squat to the top. Once I started really SQUEEZING the booty throughout each rep, with each exhalation--is when I started to notice some REAL change. This might sound REALLY dumb, but next time you are frustrated that you aren't seeing the muscle growth you want, evaluate your mind-muscle connection. 

How to evaluate:
If doing an exercise that you usually add a lot of weight to (like the barbell squat,) see what muscles you are using throughout the movement WITHOUT weight. Mimic this action once you add weight. After evaluating my own issue, I realized that I can squat over 135lbs if I recruit my quads for ample assistance, but I do not WANT any muscle growth in my quads. Therefore, when I try to exclusively recruit the GLUTE muscle fibers, I squat 95lbs. And I even do sets with 65 pounds, with high reps, to feel the burn of the intense contraction at the bottom of the motion that drives the weight up.

Other exercises worth paying more attention to:
--Leg raises. Whether lying on the ground or hanging from a bar, it is helpful to really connect with the lower abdominal muscles and entire core to avoid hip flexor discomfort. The legs are VERY heavy, and THAT is why this can be a great abdominal exercise IF you recruit the abdominal muscle fibers, and utilize the power of muscle contraction to raise the legs, rather than straining the hip flexors.

--Tricep dips. Depending on how you angle your body, you can also use these to target the pecs. Regardless, it is important to NOT shrug your shoulders up to your ears--putting dangerous strain on your rotator cuffs and overcompensating with the strength of your traps and shoulders. Maybe swallow your pride, and do dips off a bench, with your feet on another bench. I feel that this targets my tris better, because I am not struggling with the initial motion, whereas unassisted triceps dips are HARD for me to perform with complete range of motion.

--Deadlifts. The deadlift is the absolute king of exercises in my book. Shoulders, back, glutes, hams, abs, and grip are ALL involved here, and therefore it can be the best body-shaper in the world. (move over spanx.) However, depending on HOW you perform it, different muscles will be required to do more work. I use deadlift variations to target different muscles, but mainly use them to lift my glutes and build my hamstrings. Therefore, I keep the slightest bend in my knees, and prepare to squeeze my glutes and stiff hamstrings to drive the barbell off the floor. 

--Rows/pullups: If using these movements to build muscle in your BACK, make sure you engage the LATS, and don't pull the weight with your ARMS. 

I could go on and on. Of course with compound movements, "going through the motions" and moving the weight up and down WILL result in muscle growth, but maybe not as much as possible. It is important to focus on the mind-muscle connection to avoid injury as well (such as the rotator cuff risk in unassisted dips performed incorrectly.)

A great way to IMPROVE the connection between mind and muscle is to practice POSING. Posing and flexing requires you to intentionally flex a certain group of muscles. So if you didn't have enough reason to take pictures of yourself, START. The better you get at posing and flexing certain muscles, the stronger the connection will become between your mind and your body. I can flex one side of my abs and not the other. One butt cheek at a time. Just from practice, and it enables me to connect WAY better, and avoid injury during heavy weight workouts.

So next time you are about to workout, evaluate what you are FEELING with each rep. There should be SQUEEZING happening, true muscle contraction. and BREATHING! 

Now go pick up some heavy shit!!!