By
Nick Nilsson
Stuck in a rut? Hit a plateau? It's
time to stop phoning in your workout and put some BRAINPOWER into action.
One of the most common issues I see
with people in the gym, ESPECIALLY those who are having trouble getting
results, is a lack of mental focus on the exercises they're performing.
Sure, they're going through the
motions and in a lot of cases even lifting a substantial amount of weight...but
what they don't realize is that by really engaging their BRAIN in the act of
lifting they could be getting MUCH better results with the same amount of
effort.
So to help with that, I've put
together a list of my favorite "mental notes" for some of the most
common exercises in the gym...using this can make an immediate difference in
your exercise performance and even add some substantial weight to your lifts!
1. Bench Press - Push Your Body Through the Floor
Instead of focusing on pushing the
BAR away from you, try imagining as though the bar is stationary and you're
pushing your BODY down through the floor. This mentally changes the bench press
exercise from an open-chain movement (where the resistance is moving and your
body stays stationary) to a closed-chain movement (where the hand or foot is
fixed and cannot move and your body is all or part of the resistance, like a
push-up).
Closed-chain movements are more
effective for muscle fiber activation and by at least MENTALLY changing the
movement to a closed-chain exercise, you can potentially achieve some of the
benefits of it.
2. Deadlifts - Fall Backwards
When doing a straight bar deadlift,
as you're pulling the bar up your shins, mentally picture yourself
falling/shifting your weight backwards as you're pulling up. This helps improve
the leverage of the lift, using your bodyweight to help get the bar up. When
you just pull straight up, you don't get this advantage. And wear long socks or
pants if you don't want deadlifting "battle scars" up and down your
shins because that bar should stay as close to your legs as possible :)
3. Squats - Pull Down on the Bar
To lock your torso and core into the
squat, grip the bar HARD and pull down on it as you squat. Imagine like you're
trying to bend that bar in half over your back. This locks the back muscles
into a more solid position and helps stabilize the torso during the squat. This
is especially critical as you start moving heavier weights in order to protect
your spine.
4. Seated Cable Rows - Push Your
Sternum into the Handle
To really maximize the contraction
in the lats and other upper back muscles when doing a cable row, when you come
to the top of the movement, instead of focusing on pulling your shoulders back
and in (which is still effective, don't get me wrong), actively try to push
your sternum (breastbone) into the cable handle. I find this gives an even
stronger contraction than trying to pull the elbows in as it gives you a goal
in FRONT of you to focus on achieving. The back contraction then happens
automatically.
5. Barbell Curls - Push Elbows
Together
At the top of a standing barbell
curl, hold that position for a few seconds and try this...push your elbows
together as though trying to touch them together. Because your hands are locked
onto the bar, I find this increases the contraction by attempting to increase
the degree of supination of the forearm. Even though it may not actually increase
the supination, the act of TRYING is what will force the greater contraction.
It works because the OTHER major
function of the bicep muscle is supination (elbow flexion is the first), which
is basically rotation your hand from a palms-down position to a palms-up
position. This elbow trick at the top works that supination function.
6. Seated Dumbell Shoulder Press -
Bring Your Chest Up to Meet the Dumbells
When doing this exercise, as you
lower the dumbells into the bottom position, I want you take a deep breath in
and try to mentally focus on bringing the chest UP to meet the dumbells while
keeping your shoulder girdle DOWN. It's important when doing this that you
bring the dumbells ALL the way down as far as you can...until they almost touch
your shoulders.
This trick will force you to reduce
the weight you're using but it's going to work the actual shoulder muscles
twice as hard and take the emphasis off the triceps, which tend to take over in
the shortened range of motion that most people gravitate to with this exercise
(because they can use more weight).
It works by increasing the amount of
stretch that gets put on the deltoids at the bottom - shoulder girdle down and
chest up is what does it. It'll be humbling at first but work with it and your
shoulder development will SKYROCKET.
7. Stiff-Legged Deadlifts - Raise
the Toes and/or Paw the Ground
This exercise is notoriously hard
for people to feel the hamstrings working. I used to have this problem myself
for a LONG time so don't feel bad if it's happened to you. I've got two
techniques for this one...one is actually physical and the other is mental.
The physical trick is to elevate
your forefeet...I usually use foam wedges or a couple of 25 lb plates. Set your
heels on the floor and set your forefoot area on the raised edges of the
plates, similar to a calf stretch...and this works BECAUSE it puts a stretch on
your calves. Now do the exercise. I felt this in my hamstrings the very first
time I did it.
The mental trick is to imagine
pawing the ground with your feet as you start the lift. Think of a bull about
to charge and it's pawing the ground....essentially, you're to activating the
hamstrings at the hip by attempting to produce forward motion. Since you're
planted on the ground, you're not going to be going forward but the mental
intention to move forward will result in hamstring activation.
And if you put BOTH of these tricks
together, your hamstrings will be SINGING when you're doing SLDL's :)
CONCLUSION:
Give these mental tricks a try next
time you train any of these exercises and you'll know what it means to LOOK
like you're doing everything the same yet FEELING like you're doing a
completely different exercise.
I can promise you'll feel your
muscles working a way they've never worked before and you will BLAST past
strength and muscle plateaus.
------------------
Nick Nilsson has a degree in
Physical Education and Psychology and has been innovating new training
techniques for more than 18 years. Nick is the author of a number of
bodybuilding books including "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum
Mass", "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best
Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a
Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never
Heard Of", all designed to maximize the results you get for the hard work
you put into your training.
