Lifting Weights....
NOT just as simple as pick it up and put it down!
Intent is the word we are focused on in this article.. check it out!
If you walk into the gym with the intent of just getting it done, or flying through your sets as quickly as possible, or you’re there just going through the motions to post that gym selfie, meanwhile all you were thinking about the entire time you were there was how long your To-Do list is or mentally planning your next vacation, friend, you’re wasting your time! You only have so much time to spend in the gym, make it count, set your intent, focus and reap the benefits!
Typically, everyone has a purpose for going to the gym. If that purpose is to increase strength, improve body composition, improve skill or basically look, feel and perform better, you’re likely lifting weights - be it heavy or light, barbells or dumbbells, kettlebells or resistance bands, are you certain you are hitting the muscles you want and squeezing as much out of each and every training session as possible?
You have a strong purpose for being there, but is each move planned with intent? Is each moved performed with intent? If not, it’s likely you are aren’t getting as much out of your time as you could be!!
“Intention is the grand instruction and then technique, experience, and focus will accomplish the task.”3
Lifting with intent is not complicated. Your lifts should not be either. You don’t need to be able to pick up the heaviest dumbbell in the gym or do a hundred burpee pull-ups and crazy move combos to make progress. Straight up.. You don’t need fancy.. You just need intent!
Okay.. lift with intent… uh, what exactly does that mean?
So, after you’ve been training for a while, you get better and then you eventually hit a point where you have to work harder and harder to continue to improve. In an effort to enhance results many people at this point will look to the latest and greatest new scientific method, or supplementation, even nutrition and fancy recovery methods. These can absolutely yield results, however, there is a simpler way to improve your performance without added costs and little additional efforts!
“For example, in a bicep curl, place all your focus into the biceps and concentrate on the sensations of the exercise while trying to squeeze the muscle as hard as possible for each rep. You’ll be amazed what a difference being present makes as opposed to thinking about what you are going to have for dinner.”4
While that may sound simple on paper,
a big part of lifting with intent is mind-muscle awareness and this is something you may have to work at to better develop. If your traps are sore from doing bicep curls, you’re not targeting the muscle you intended to target which means you need to work on this mind-muscle connection and tweak your technique.
Lets look a tad deeper into this.. We show up, we pick things up and we put them down… Right?! Wrong!!!
There are two types of contractions that occur during a lift, eccentric and concentric.
The eccentric phase is not just about letting the weight go down, nor should you be letting the weight fall; this is your chance to build tension and pressure, like a coil being compressed and loaded with energy. Between the two contractions, there should be no rest, no release of the pressure. This energy or tension being built during the eccentric contraction is immediately turned into energy for the concentric phase.1
Don’t just take our word for it!
There are plenty of studies to be found that support these claims. One study’s findings support the claims of the importance of that mind-muscle connection. Where visualization of the muscle moving and focusing on initiating the movement from where it is intended drives the muscles to a higher activation level.
“We conclude that the mental training employed by this study enhances the cortical output signal, which drives the muscles to a higher activation level and increases strength.”5
Read the abstract by clicking HERE.
References
1. Aichs, Chad. “Intent Is Everything: Does Your Training Have a Purpose?” Elitefts, 20 July 2018, www.elitefts.com/education/intent-is-everything-does-your-training-have-a-purpose/.
2. Calatayud, Joaquin, et al. “Importance of Mind-Muscle Connection during Progressive Resistance Training.” SpringerLink, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 23 Dec. 2015, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7.
3. Holder, Chris. “The Power of Intention.” Breaking Muscle, 28 Mar. 2018, breakingmuscle.com/fitness/the-power-of-intention.
4. MacCormick, Tom. “What Science Has to Say About Building Muscle.” Breaking Muscle, 3 Sept. 2018, breakingmuscle.com/fitness/what-science-has-to-say-about-building-muscle?fbclid=IwAR03EWaFM0Wjo7OSnh2-T8XC1JFhECwOg14Mc8amgyubABo5tEnku6wYGY8. 5. Ranganathan, V K, et al. “From Mental Power to Muscle Power--Gaining Strength by Using the Mind.” Neuropsychologia., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2003, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14998709.
Great blog you have heree