Do y’all have any advice regarding mind muscle connection? I’m not particularly interested in bodybuilding but rather more into strength training but I do find that I’ve some body parts lagging behind aesthetically speaking, like come on, who doesn’t wanna look a good naked. I would think y’all would be more knowledgeable in terms of mind muscle connection/isolation work compared to powerlifters.
Anyways, I find it particularly hard to feel contractions in my chest and I even have trouble flexing my left biceps. Is there anyway to change it? For example, when I do dumbbell flies, I simply can’t feel my chest at all. This is my first time posting in the bodybuilding category so please go easy on me.
In an extreme case, I’d recommend using a machine or atleast cables for flies. BUT if you’re having trouble using your chest, force your arms straight during the flyes(ie lockout arms), and imagine using your chest muscles to move your arms in a circular motion.
With cables try keeping your arms fully straight and move them downwards towards your knee(if your kneeling) and you should easily feel your lower chest working
Goodluck
In an extreme case, I’d recommend using a machine or atleast cables for flies. BUT if you’re having trouble using your chest, force your arms straight during the flyes(ie lockout arms), and imagine using your chest muscles to move your arms in a circular motion.
With cables try keeping your arms fully straight and move them downwards towards your knee(if your kneeling) and you should easily feel your lower chest working
Goodluck
Remember to keep your arms locked out and fully extended and straight to maximize the feeling of using your chest. Imagine moving your straight arms as if your tracing a circle using nothing but your chest
Maybe others will disagree, but I think this is an area that really just requires time, patience and experience. The biggest factor, imo, that hinders people in developing a MMC is that they are numbers-driven and can’t put their ego aside to lift lighter weights than they think they should be.
It’s like an old Lonnie Lowery story that the best advice for back training he ever got was to cut his weights in half.
I’m a very delt-dominant presser, and I’ve found that doing pretty much all my pressing either with dumbells, on a decline, or both, has really helped.
Pre-exhausting with the pec dec or cables helps too. I never really got anything out of dumbell flies either. Always felt weird on my shoulders but I LOVE pec dec and cables.
[quote]Yogi wrote:
I’m a very delt-dominant presser, and I’ve found that doing pretty much all my pressing either with dumbells, on a decline, or both, has really helped.
Pre-exhausting with the pec dec or cables helps too. I never really got anything out of dumbell flies either. Always felt weird on my shoulders but I LOVE pec dec and cables.[/quote]
I am the same way. Really gonna pound decline work after this prep
Main tip i got from the vid is changing intent. Dont just press it up. Pretend like you are trying to bring your elbows together and touch them while driving your back into the pad.
Finding the “right” weight (not too heavy but not too light) helps focus on really feeling the muscles work. So does pre-exhaust in certain instances, or even altering movements chosen.
Still, IMO, I think the big factor in developing proper MMC is time, and attention to what’s actually going on when you train.
Hey there,
Stu, been a long while but just recently started checkin the place out again, and have to say good to see you are still gettin after it!
Lookin good man.
What happened to the T-Cell…?
Keep kickin ass.
[quote]InTheZone wrote:
Hey there,
Stu, been a long while but just recently started checkin the place out again, and have to say good to see you are still gettin after it!
Lookin good man.
What happened to the T-Cell…?
Keep kickin ass.
[/quote]
After you left the whole damn thing just fell apart.
[quote]Benanything wrote:
Anyways, I find it particularly hard to feel contractions in my chest[/quote]
D-roy raises, around :47 here:
Kind of a bent over one-arm chest fly. Seems weird and you’ll “only” use about 5 pounds, but it’s all pec contraction. Try it at the start of your chest session.
For biceps and a few other bodyparts, I really like using touch training. Simply touching the fingertips of one hand to the working muscle. Seems obvious but it’s underutilized. So with one-arm dumbbell curls, I’ll be curling with the left arm and have the fingers of my right hand touching the left biceps during each rep.
Same for one-arm lateral raises and rear delt flyes, one-arm pulldowns or cable crossovers, standing leg curls, seated calves, basically anytime you can reach the working muscle with the non-working hand.
I even have trouble flexing my left biceps. [/quote]
Do you mind expanding on this a little bit? [/quote]
Its like, I can flex my right biceps perfectly fine and get it hard(no pun intended) but when it comes to my left biceps, it just feels softer and I don’t feel the same amount of contraction.
