Hello everyone,
Today we shall talk about mindfulness! No, I have not switched over into the yoga cam; this newsletter has always been and will always be about bodybuilding.
I want to touch on the mental aspect of training, in particular your mindset before you touch a weight. First of all, I trust that everyone of you enters the gym with a plan, preferably written by me. So once you are here, you should take a moment and visualize your target muscle and what it should feel like when training.
Most of us come to gym stressed out from work, the subway, the Knicks… not a great way to start the workout. The more you connect with your muscle the bigger the gains.
Here are some examples:
Chest: bringing the upper arm close to the chest thereby getting a hard contraction. Or a push up with an inward intention
Back: think of the hard stop of a stiff arm cable pulldown
Quads: Visualize doing a bodyweight squat where you are pushing the floor away, using your quads during the entire motion
Shoulders: light cable side raise with a hard stop
Hamstrings: leg curl, fully contracted!
Triceps: pushing the elbow behind the body and straightening the elbow out, not in an underhand grip
Biceps: please, you know that one! But if you really must know ,think of Arnolds mountain peaks!
Twenty seconds of looking like a dork will ensure more gains! Plus you can always pull your hoodie really low so nobody will notice!
Maik