The Mind-Muscle Connection, in terms of Health and Fitness is the synergy between your brain and your body. It is described as “feeling your muscles work”. This is important to trainers because the better the connection with your muscles, the more efficient your workout becomes.
Being able to concentrate on one muscle moving during an exercise will essentially focus all force on that muscle, making it work harder and in the end, resulting in a better workout for that muscle. A poor concentration on the muscle will result in other muscle groups being recruited into the movement and the target muscle not getting the maximum force applied to it within the exercise.
The Mind-Muscle Connection also applies to Nutrition and Supplementation as well. Providing your body the right nutrient intake allows your muscles to operate at a high level and gives you a better overall sense of well-being. “Knowing your body” is a term used when you take actions based on how you feel and what your body is telling you. Normally you should be pro-active in the Nutritional and Supplementation game. Feeding your body at designated intervals to keep a constant flow of high-quality nutrients into your muscles for maximum performance. But sometimes, being reactive to certain situations – feeling sick, not losing weight at an expected level (if you are dieting) or not gaining weight at an expected level (if bulking). Knowing your body will allow you to make the necessary adjustments in your Nutritional and Supplementation regimens to get you back on track.
In a nutshell, an excellent Mind-Muscle Connection will result in a better workout, producing a quicker, more efficient achievement of your goals.
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Joe Weider, along with his brother Ben, are considered the founding fathers of bodybuilding. Together they founded the International Federation of Bodybuilders and created competitions like the Mr Olympia, Ms. Olympia and Master’s Olympia. He is the publisher of several bodybuilding and fitness-related magazines, most notably Muscle & Fitness, Flex, Men’s Fitness and Shape, and is the manufacturer of a line of fitness equipment and fitness supplements. But perhaps the most important of his contributions to the health and fitness industry is his series of training methods collected over many years, which became widely known as the Weider Principles.
