So what if I told you there was a way to continue training even when you are completely burnt out? Or, how about that you can actually control how the level calories burnt without actually changing your physical activity. As it turns out, our thought decisions can produce some serious physiological gains such as burning fat and increasing strength. Thought about movement has been shown to develop the intended skill almost as much as actually practicing said skill!
Building strength is not as mechanical as we thought. A recent study by Erin M. Shackell and Lionel G. Standing at Bishop’s University has shown we can make significant gains without lifting a finger in fact!
They measured strength gain in three groups of individuals and had the first do nothing different for two weeks. The second group was put through a strength training program for to develop hip flexion specifically. The third mentally practiced hip flexion 5 times a week for two weeks and the results were impressive to say the least.
No change in the control group, obviously. The folks that trained with real wieghts showed a 28% gain in strength and the group that ONLY visualized showed a 24% gain! This is INCREDIBLE news.
Why does this makes sense you ask? Well, strength as I mentioned in the past blog post “How to Get Stronger Instantly-What is Irradiation?” , is not all just about muscular hypertrophy or micro trauma in the tissue. It about the level of conductivity and amount of motor neurons actually innervating our tissue. You can guide yourself to connect deeply to your muscles with out actually physially exercising! Now, throw some real movement on top of your visualization and get ready to be a force of nature.
OK, fun trick right? How about burning more calories? Can we mentally induce caloric expenditure and impact metabolism? You better believe it!
A Harvard study by psychologist Ellen Langershowed showed that just by telling maids at a hotel they were in fact greatly exceeding the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendation for daily exercise produced some very interesting results.
From the start most all of the maids reported not feeling as though they do any exercise since they didn’t hit a traditional gym. Their were 84 total maids and half of them were observed for a day to record how much “exercise” they were getting and the other half were told nothing.
One month later the results were impressive to say the least. In the group that had been educated, there was a decrease in their systolic blood pressure, weight, and waist-to-hip ratio — and a 10 percent drop in blood pressure.
How is this possible? I am more curious why it so surprising to people! Every moment of every day we are guiding the way we move on a physical and cellular level dependent upon how we are feeling. If you think you are doing a good deed, it will up-regulate your whole system. We can all feel this every time we help a granny across the street, successfully finish a speech or set a new personal record. These things actually create physical/mental momentum. Perception is reality and we need embrace this simple truth to get the most out of our human experience.
This is no secret to high level athletes and sports psychologists. Visualization is a tactic used in almost every sporting event or anything involving great concentration. We as non Olympic athletes can use the same tricks for anything we are striving toward!
Analogy time, disk breaks came from race cars originally and then were adopted by every car due to their effectiveness. By breaking down what high level performers are doing to achieve results and using the same tools for normal life activities, we will still reap the benefits. The mind is stronger than the sword
