(1:22)- What is the mind-muscle connection?
(2:18)- How Do I Increase Mind-Muscle Connection?
(3:21)- Activating your internal belt!
LINK:
(5:39)- Can Your MMC Get Worse Over Time?
(8:38)- Tips To Improve Your Mind-Muscle Connection!
*READ FULL ARTICLE WITH PHOTOS*
Command your muscles to grow! Is this something fun we like to say out loud, or is there some hidden truth to this statement? It’s no secret that beginners have a hard time “feeling” specific muscles when they exercise and the most common question I receive is:
“How do I feel a bench press in my chest when I only feel it in my arms?”
The reason why many people have a hard time “feeling” specific muscles being engaged has to do with their “Mind Muscle Connection (MMC) and I have a news flash for you, it’s not ONLY beginners that have a hard time with this.
What Is The Mind Muscle Connection?
MMC is your ability to increase the number of muscle fibers being recruited when lifting. The more muscle fibers you are able to recruit the stronger you will be on your lifts and the more muscle you will be able to break down to stimulate growth. But this is much more than just feeling the muscle working or visualizing the contraction. It’s a real occurrence that happens inside your body that influences neuromuscular dynamics during resistance training.
The MMC occurs at the neuromuscular junction. What happens is your brain releases a chemical neurotransmitter called ‘Acetylcholine’ to communicate with muscles in the body. Once released at the neuromuscular junction it crosses the “synapses” which is the tiny space that separates the nerve from the muscle where it binds to receptors on the surface of muscle fibers. This is what causes the muscle contraction. Now, if you think about how a single muscle head is made up of many individual muscle fibers you are actually increasing the number of muscle fibers being recruited when you perform a lift by improving your MMC. This will result in more quality muscle contractions which means more strength and growth resulting from your workouts.
How Do I Increase My MMC?
While the majority of us believe in the Mind-Muscle Connection, there are still those who believe that if you just focus on proper form when performing an exercise the right muscles will do their job automatically. This couldn’t be farther from the truth and I am going to explain why. Let’s take a look at some of the big compound lifts such as a squat, deadlift or bench press. There is much more going on here than “I pick things up and put them down”. On deadlifts and squats for example you need to push through your hips with a massive force to complete the exercise. But you won’t lift nearly as much weight unless you learn how to contract your glutes during this portion of the movement. The same can be said for the bench press. You are not just lying on a bench and lifting a bar. You need to plant your feet, flex your glutes, retract your shoulder blades and then learn how to drive through your feet to press the bar. All three exercises also heavily depend on activating your internal belt as well which is a whole other story.
But don’t feel overwhelmed guys, targeting muscles gets easier with practice. A great way to get started would be to spend some time flexing your muscles in the mirror to learn how to activate them independently of each other. You must understand that until you can improve your MMC, you are at a significant disadvantage when compare to an advanced lifter as we can manipulate various exercises to target specific muscles without having to significantly altering our form.
One of the easiest ways to learn how to do this is to work with LIGHT WEIGHT, a SLOW TEMPO and a LIGHTER GRIP when performing various movements. For example try to perform a skull crusher or a barbell bicep curl with a super loose grip and a 2 – 2 – 2 TEMPO. You will notice that this almost instantly takes away the majority of the forearm engagement that would naturally occur during these movements and allow you to really focus and isolate your triceps or biceps.
*CONTINUE READING HERE*
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36 comments
fuck just get to it
Thanks so much for this video Scott! I've been lifting for a couple years now and while I've seen some growth, I know it hasn't been as much as what I should be seeing. Everything finally clicked into place for me after watching this. I know other personal trainers on YouTube have probably tried explaining this very concept but not as thorough as you did here. I'm now seeing that muscle pump that's been missing during my workouts return. Thanks again Scott and keep up the great work!
Why haven't you learned the Mind muscle connection… if you had a mind muscle connection you would know what every exercise does… all your videos are about is to move as much weight as possible… you're obsessed with ego lifting on every exercise!
What are the verbal cues to increase mind muscle connection
Great video!! This helps me a lot! Have watched mind-muscle connection videos before. However, I never really understood what they were saying. Your video really simplified things and I definitely had my “aha moment”!
Also, need more Arnold impersonations immediately.
1 year of working out and i barely can flex my muscles , that drives me crazy :/
Can calisthenics make you strong enough to lift heavy weights,people or objects?
the answer is revers permed set can't explain here try it out your self
So after this video I started paying attention to MMC, but I failed at flexing my lats, I was able to flex my 💪. But when it came to large muscles like lats I couldn't do it or probably didn't feel it. Maybe you can go into more detail abt large muscle groups. Thanks a ton. 🤗
I have this problem with my back muscles… the only exercise that makes my back sore is the facepull. Anyother back excersice , any kind of rows , or pullups , just make my biceps burn and almost zero back activation
Wow. The most important video on lifting for size and strength to date.
I have perfect mind muscle connection in my right tricep but finding it really difficult on the left and it’s creating some pretty bad imbalances
I can't feel my entire left side of my body when I work out. When i do deadlifts, I can only feel my right side doing everything. Right now there is a subtle bend in my lumbar that is keeping me from working out. I will try to remember to comment again later after seeing this video to bring in more firsthand info.
This is all really good information, but why do all these lifting videos insist on yelling at me? This video can also be better digested at 1.75 speed.
Don’t feel overwhelmed? I definitely feel overwhelmed after watching some of your videos today. I feel like I obviously have no fing clue what I’m doing and have no idea where to even start
audio sucks
💓💓💓
U forgot the third mover and the robbed mover wtf dude how about you do a mathemathical test before you start lifting and make sure u graduate from harvard else u cant get gains
💪 Oldie but goodie
I am having hard time feeling my chest when doing dumbbell chest press. Feels like there is nothing there and only my arms are doing the work.
Really been focusing on the mind muscle connection it really makes a difference. Thanks bro!
He attempts demonstrate a 2/2 tempo but does it with a 1/1 tempo. Nearly every one of these guys preaching tempo do the same thing. They preach a slower tempo but then you watch them train & they're pumping reps out just like everyone else.
i have questions i have muscle juice milk should i mix it with hot water or not? help plz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KZxkY_0cM In this video of how to perform skull crusher, you mentioned that there should be a nice tight grip. But now you are saying that grip should be loose. You are failing your own words. Why is it so ?? @scott
Can I inject that neurotransmitter exogenously? I like to take geeeeeear
I dont lift heavy, but i sqeeze my muscle and focus but still dont get big
I have been working out for 2 years and I just applied your tips on MMC. I felt more pump in 1 week than in 2 years! And already made progress since then !
2.18
2:18
2:45 Arnold Schwarzenegger out if nowhere* 🤣
Hello from Indonesia, your videos are awesome, lot of knowledge. Thanks for sharing 😄
2:46 meme material
Whatever exercise i do i only feel my forearms
Good teaching. Thank you.
🍊 THANKS FOR THESE HELPFUL TIPS SIR! 🍊😊
i can't listen to this fuck talkin, he drives me nuts