Mind Over Muscle

Could you level up your strength training just by putting your mind to it?

Among bodybuilders, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that anyone in search of gains must focus their mind as well as their muscles. Internal attentional focus, as it’s known among scientists, describes the connection between mind and muscle. The theory is that by really focusing on the muscle or muscle group you’re aiming to work during an exercise, you’ll be able to increase the stimulation of those muscles; in other words, greater stimulation should lead to greater growth. It’s been a mainstay in professional bodybuilding for decades – and Arnold Schwarzenegger summed it up himself: “The weights are just a means to an end. How well you contract the muscles is what training is all about.”